Winds of the Past
by The Illusive Pegasus
Summary: During Twilight's time in Canterlot, a year before moving to Ponyville, and before making friends...a certain rainbow pegasus crashed into her life, literally. Twilight soon finds herself taking care of this clumsy and rather carefree pegasus, but questions still remain. Like who is she? And where did she come from? More importantly, why is she finding it so hard to let go?
1. Chapter 1

As said in the summary, this takes place primarily in Canterlot and before the events of the show, mainly focusing on and following the lives of a socially inept Twilight Sparkle before ever having made friends, and a memory-ridden Rainbow Dash who one day mysteriously crash lands into the mare's home. Also, if not already evident by the first chapter, this story will be long! Each chapter will be roughly around ten-to-twenty-thousand words—perhaps a bit much for a romance tale but what can I say? I find it hard _not_ to write unnecessarily long fiction.

* * *

-Chapter 1-

It's almost kind of funny really. Funny how one moment I'm going about my usual business in my study, the next, _she_ crashes through my window. I couldn't believe it at first myself. After all, what pegasus just goes and crashes into somepony's home? Certainly not the ones I read about in my books. Well, after repairing any damage done to the room and carefully examining my bookcases and looking ever-so closely for any damage done to the books, I insisted she go to the hospital. She refused of course, insisting she was fine. Stubborn pegasus. I refused to believe she was anything _but_ fine. Eventually I got her to go, though honestly, I couldn't have cared whether she had or not. Never did care much for the company of others, but the fact remained I couldn't just leave her there, injured on my floor. If anything, she would have distracted me from my studies.

During our short time together, I learned she had apparently lost much of her memory...and as I accompanied her to the hospital, little by little, I started to believe she had. I figured nopony would go through such lengths to fake such a thing. Well I was right of course, as it was soon discovered she had somehow gained amnesia. Now I'm stuck watching over her while she regains her memory...who knows how long that'll take... But it seems I'm getting a little carried away here. Let me start again from the beginning. It was an average, sunny morning in Canterlot. Ponies were going on with their usual daily routine, as was I, until...well, you know the rest...

"And that takes care of that," the purple mare with a satisfied grin, to nopony in particular. Raising a quill pen with her magic, checked off another box on her list. "Remove books from shelves? Check." Now with the floors of the tower a cluttered mess, she proceeded on to the next box on her list. Dusting. She looked up from her list for only a moment; a job like this would take hours. Well, she supposed it _would_ take hours, for any old pony. A job like this however, was nothing to a unicorn like herself. She set the quill and list down on the desk, then walked towards the center of the room. Taking a deep breath, she flared her horn causing it to glow an ever-so light purple and unleashing the build up of magic, sent a wave of magic through the tower, rocking the bare bookcases back and fourth; knocking off any dust that may have built up over time. The magic subsided, leaving only a mass of dust clouds now nestled above the room. "Dusting. Check—" the pony paused as she felt a sneeze coming on. "Spike!" she called out. Her voice echoed throughout the tower, and on her command, the purple dragon came running into the room.

"Yes, Twilight?" Spike answered, now eying the mare across the room. For whatever reason, she had been holding a hoof over her muzzle. "There was something you needed?"

"Yes. I need you to—" She bit down on her lip, "—need you to open some windows!" At that moment she turned away and sneezed, right into her hoof. "Eww..." she groaned in detest, now with strands of mucus attached to her hoof.

"Something the matter?" Spike asked, cocking his head in Twilight's direction.

"Oh no, nothing at all," Twilight assured her assistant, her back still turned to him. "Just work on getting as many windows open around here as you can."

"Well alright," Spike nodded as he turned to leave, "if that's all you need..." He had almost exited the room when he heard Twilight's voice speak up again.

"And Spike?"

He paused for a moment, turning once more to face her. "Yeah?"

"Tissues please?" Twilight asked. She felt her cheeks grow warmer saying that. "Make it quick too, Spike..." she finished as she felt another sneeze coming on. _Stupid dust..._ she thought.

"Sure thing, Twilight," she heard him say, followed by the sound of fading footsteps. Before even realizing it, Spike had left, leaving Twilight by herself as she let out another sneeze. This time, all over her desk, but more importantly to her, her to-do list and various other papers she had scattered across her desk.

"Oh no...no no no no, no no!" she panicked, wiping her hoof on her coat, she'd clean it later, as she observed what had become of the papers. "Not good!" Her list of objectives which had needed to be completed today had been ruined! Well, in her eyes anyway. To any other pony, it would have looked fine; just what appeared to be a few drops here and there, not affecting the penmanship at all. But Twilight wasn't just _any_ pony. "Great," she huffed in irritation, "now I'll have to rewrite the whole list again!" she grumbled, crumpling the list with her magic and tossing it into a nearby waste basket. "Great, now my work will have to wait..." She let out a sigh and turned, frustrated, now walking over to the large, wall-sized glass window at the front of the room.

Upon taking residency here, she learned that this tower had quite the view of Equestria. Looking out, she could the rest of Canterlot below, and if she squinted, could see beyond that, to some place called...Ponyville. Sometimes she would catch an occasional glimpse of Cloudsdale floating by. But today was nothing but clear blue skies, although she paid little attention to the outside world. "Great, just great...I'm behind schedule now..."

She rested her forehead against the glass, letting out an irritated groan. "Stupid dust..." she spat, eying the clouds of it floating above her from the corner of her eye. Her gaze returned to meet her reflection in the glass. "If only _this_ window could open..." she grumbled, placing a hoof against the glass. She sighed, turning around to resume her work. "Well I won't get anywhere complaining. May as well—" she paused mid-sentence. For the briefest second she could have sworn she sensed another pony's presence. She swiftly turned around, gazing out the window...

What happened next? _She_ happened. What I thought was perhaps a rainbow blossoming across the blue sky, was actually a pegasus, from...who knows where. I never got a good glimpse at the direction she had been flying from. All I knew was she had somehow managed to injure herself, blacking out mid-flight and ended up falling right out of the sky, and falling fast...right into my life.

Twilight let out a frightened scream as the pony drew closer, picking up speed as she fell from the sky. Without thinking, she dove to the ground placing her hooves over her head as the mare came crashing into the window, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Panicking, Twilight conjured up a quick yet unstable force field which she used to shield herself from the oncoming bits of glass. The spell was still in its primal stages, and far from perfect, but it still served its purpose.

She shut her eyes, making it impossible to have seen what was happening but the sound of glass pounding against her force field like hail and a loud crash having emitted from the far side of the room told her all she needed to know. Her study was getting destroyed...

Eventually the sound subsided and she has assumed the worst of it was over. However she didn't dare look... "Please don't be ruined please don't be..." she muttered under her breath, as one eye peeked out from under her hoof. Well, minus the gaping hole in the window and shattered glass everywhere, it didn't look _too_ bad...to any old pony that is. "No," she panicked, frantically looking around and muttering what seemed like a never-ending string of _nos_, "it's all destroyed!" And books littering the floor or empty bookcases certainly weren't helping the room's image. "This isn't happening! This can't be happening!"she fretted placing a hoof over her forehead and raking her mane up in the process.

Then she remembered the cause of all this. The pegasus. The one to blame for all this. It _was_ her fault after all. Twilight turned and began glancing around the room for her, conjuring up protective shoehorns around her hooves as she walked. "I know you're here!" Twilight shouted, her voice fuming as it echoed throughout the room. The sound of glass crunched under her hooves as she walked. "You know you caused me a great deal of trouble crashing in here like that!" she continued wandering further into the room, looking for the source of the crash. She was definitely in here somewhere. Twilight cautiously ventured deeper into the tower, turning a corner as she walked. "I was behind schedule enough already but it's not like you pegasi type care. Now I've got to repair all the damage your little stunt caused and I still have to clear away all this dust." Though unbeknown to her, the window getting smashed open had inadvertently sucked away all the once present dust. "Then rewrite new lists detailing my jobs I've yet to complete before I can even get back to work on re-shelving everything. I do hope you realize this is all _your_ fault..." Her voice dwindled; the mare now finding herself at a loss of words. She had found her. Slouched upside down against a cabinet, and if she had to take a guess, unconscious.

I had found her, and not sure why, or even how, but my sudden rage dispersed. I was still angry with her of course; she had wrecked much of what had been my work space...or well, _study_. I wanted to yell at her, or at the very least, get her to repair the damage she had caused, well when she woke anyway. But I couldn't bring myself to do so. I wish I could explain the feeling I felt back then... What happened next? I sat there, for ages it felt like, until Spike returned. I didn't know what to say, or even think around her, and so I just watched, waiting. Waiting until she came to. I just had to know more about her...

"Oh what am I going to do...?" Twilight wondered aloud, dropping to the floor beside the pegasus. Her eyes rested on the mare. "Especially with you..." What had started out as just another work day had turned into an utter disaster. She couldn't possibly be further behind in her work, and now she had some pegasus on her hooves as well. Things were not looking up for her.

She sneezed again.

_Oh Celestia, not again..._ she groaned, wiping her muzzle with a hoof. Then let out an embarrassed shriek when she noticed _where_ she had sneezed. Right into the mare's coat. "Eww..." she groaned, utterly disgusted by the sight. She turned away, turning her attention to the hall which Spike had proceeded down earlier. "Oh... Where is Spike with those tissues?" she thought aloud. How long did it take to fetch such a thing? She turned back to the pegasus. "Mm, well I suppose I can't just leave you like that..."

Nodding her head and taking a deep breath, she decided on fixing the problem herself. After all, how hard could it be? "Okay, I've got this, I can fix this..." she told herself. She gulped, closing her eyes and doing something she never would have thought of doing. She began scrubbing away at her fur with her hoof in an attempt to rub her...excrement out. _Oh Celestia this is gross!_ she squirmed, squinting her eyes and biting her lower lip. _Please don't wake up, please don't wake up..._

Thank Celestia she didn't.

"Well that takes care of that," she said, satisfied with her job of cleaning up. Her fur was a bit crusty, and rather messy but to Twilight is seemed okay. Wiping her hooves clean, she proceeded to lie the mare down in a more...comfortable position. Surely it wouldn't help having her wake upside down, back against a cabinet. Carefully placing a forearm around her shoulders and another around her legs, strenuously moved her onto the floor, gently lying her down on her stomach. "Whew..." she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't used to lifting things, much less another pony. Especially one her size... "And um..." She looked around, trying to spot something for her to rest her head on. It seemed as though a book would have to suffice for the time being. "Ah, here we go!" She spotted one of her...not-so-favorite books and used her magic to lift the pegasus's head and place it underneath. Some almanac-sized manual on growing and raising apples. "I always knew this book would be good for something."

She looked over the resting mare. She was average size, no bigger than herself. Slender, cerulean coat, shaggy tail and mane, _rainbow_ mane...that wasn't something you saw everyday. A pony with a mane that colored all seven colors of the rainbow... She would have to take a look into this later. But now just wasn't the time for such a thing. Still, she couldn't help but feel this pegasus was special. Different than the rest. She placed the tip of a hoof over her eyes, brushing away rainbow strands of her mane as she quietly asked, "Just...who are you?"

Even more importantly, was she alright? Nothing was broken was it? The thought had just occurred to the unicorn. She had been so caught up in removing the snot from her fur, or gawking over her mane she had completely forgotten to check for any harm done to her body. Her body had been left unscathed, save for a few bruises along her forelegs, upper body and the mess she could only assume were once her wings, but as for her insides... She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before her horn lit up and she lowered it over the mare's body. _Slight damage to the forearm and leg muscles..._ she concluded to herself, breathing out a sigh then moving her horn further up her figure. Almost like an x-ray, with a flare of her horn, could use it to scan one's body and sense for any problems. "Now for her...oh..." Bloodied and torn, on the outside it looked as if feathers had been plucked straight from her wings, with whatever remaining feathers misplaced and muddled, sticking out every which way from her wings. On the inside... _Muscle damage and tendons badly stretched in both wings it would seem... Looks like she won't be doing any flying for a while._ Twilight shook her head as the glow surrounding her horn diminished. _Still, she couldn't have sustained all these injuries from a simple crash...I wonder what—_

"Twilight!" Twilight rose her head up, startled from where she sat as she suddenly heard a familiar voice. "What happened in here?!" From the sound of it, Spike had returned.

"Oh, Spike?" Twilight answered, poking her head out from the corner. "Over here, Spike." Before going to meet with her assistant, turned to the pegasus and whispered, "Don't move," then moments later questioned why she even said that.

_She's unconscious, Twilight..._ her conscious reminded her.

"I know that, Twilight—" she paused. Great, now she was talking to herself.

"So...what kept you?" Twilight asked, approaching Spike. "I've been waiting, you know." She noticed he clutched onto a packet of tissues in his left hand.

"I was only gone for a few minutes, Twilight," he replied, giving her a funny look. "What's gotten into you?"

"Well..." Then it hit her. She remembered there was still bits of glass littered across the floor. "Spike, please watch where you walk!" she cautioned.

"I am, Twilight! I am!" Spike assured. He wasn't blind; it was clear there was glass everywhere. He wouldn't have been foolish enough to actually step on it. "I swear you worry too much."

"I worry because you're still a baby dragon."

"I'm old enough," Spike insisted before realizing the two had been getting off-topic. "Anyway, I was busy opening the windows like you asked but..." Spike redirected his attention to the shattered window on the far side of the room. "Twilight, what happened?"

Twilight glanced over at the window. "Oh that..." How was she going to explain this one to Spike? "Um, well it's eh, sort of a long story..."

"Long...how exactly?" the young dragon inquired. "Mind telling me?"

_Well telling him may take time..._ she thought. "Why don't I just show you instead?"

"Show me?" Spike wondered.

"Yeah, come on. This way, Spike." She waved a hoof, motioning him to follow her. Spike followed, dropping the tissues on a nearby desk as Twilight took him to meet their 'guest'.

* * *

"Is she dead—?"

"Spike!"

"What?" Spike replied defensively, holding out both his hands before him. She was, right? How was he supposed to know? He looked back at the pegasus. "She looks..."

"Well she's not," Twilight told him, "just...unconscious at the moment I think."

"So...who is she?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know?" There was a pegasus in their home and Twilight was telling him she had no clue who she was? Was she to blame for that giant hole in the window? "Twilight, how can you _not_ know?"

"I just don't know, okay Spike?" she shot back. It wasn't like her not to know things, and Spike pointing this out made it all the worse. "I just...we just need to wait for her to come around."

Both sat in silence for several moments. Spike looked over at Twilight who sat dead silent, her violet eyes fixed on the mare's. "So she's the reason for—" Spike paused, pointing a finger over his shoulder, "—_that_?"

"Yeah," Twilight barely nodded, her eyes glued to the mysterious pegasus, "one moment I'm standing by the window, next..._she_ crashes through it."

"That's crazy!" Spike exclaimed for a brief moment before receiving a glare from Twilight. "I mean, uh...that's, awful?"

Twilight sighed. "No Spike, it _is_ crazy." A pegasus who she's never seen before, didn't know anything about and crashed into her life out of the blue certainly wasn't ordinary. "Now I'm behind on my work because of—oh Celestia, my work!" Twilight jolted up, having completely forgotten about her chores she had yet to complete due to the pegasus disrupting everything. "I need to get back to work! Oh no, where did I leave off? And the books, oh I'll have to check for any damage done to those..." Before running off, turned to Spike and said, "Watch over her, please."

Spike nodded but soon noticed the pegasus's body start to budge ever-so slightly. "Uh, Twilight..."

"Not now, Spike," she replied, fretfully dashing across the layout of the room. _Oh where to start where to start..._ Flaring her horn, and with her magic, picked up individual pieces of glass, using them to rebuild the window. "This will hopefully take care of the window _and_ broken glass situation..."

"But Twilight—"

"I said not now!" she snapped, focusing on the window and on fitting the finishing pieces back into place. Once all the pieces were in place, she placed a protective barrier around the glass, hoping to keep the whole thing from coming apart.

"Are you sure?" Spike asked. "This _is_ kinda important."

"More important than getting this work done? Oh I'm sure..." Twilight answered in a rather sarcastic tone. "Sorry, Spike. Whatever it is you want can wait until after this is finished."

Spike shook his head, as he shrugged. "If you say so..."

"Man, is she always this uptight?" an unfamiliar voice asked, stopping Twilight in her tracks and causing her ears to perk up. That definitely wasn't Spike talking. Then who...? The voice softly laughed as it soon asked, "How do you put up with someone like that?"

She turned and stood there, flabbergasted. To her surprise, the pegasus had awoken. Well that was...fast.

* * *

But it wasn't just how fast she had recovered from a seemingly painful incident. No, it was the fact she seemed completely unhurt by it all. I looked into her cerise eyes and as I assumed, she wasn't just _any_ pegasus. There was something about her that definitely struck me as...different. But as for her attitude, that was nothing new. Carefree, lazy as I soon discovered, quite the jokester, and might I add she seemed to have a hint of an ego. I quickly found myself being annoyed time and time again by her, whether it was her pestering me about my work habits, or asking "What's this?" every five seconds. I tried ever so hard to ignore her outbursts but one fact still remained. I was stuck with her, and that I could not ignore. I had discovered through her constant rambling that she couldn't remember much about her past, where she came from...or even what her name was. Celestia only knew if she was telling the truth or not, but whatever the case, she was hurt and I couldn't just abandon her. So I was stuck looking after her for the time being, until I could find her the help she needed...

_She's...awake?_ Twilight stood, jaw hanging open. She rubbed both her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was seeing right now. So much in fact, she shut her eyes telling herself this wasn't real, that her eyes were just playing tricks on her. _When I open my eyes, she'll still be lying on the floor..._ Her eyes blinked open, but there she was, still standing on the far side of the room beside where Spike stood. The pegasus, who was unconscious moments ago, was now wide awake, sitting back on her haunches and looked, better than okay! The picture of health even! Well, until she lifted a hoof anyway...

"Ow..." the pegasus cringed as she let out a muffled grumble, placing her hoof back down. "Stupid hoof," she spat, "I was only napping, why is it hurting like this? Must've sprained something..."

"Uh..." Twilight found herself speechless. What did she mean she was sleeping? Did she really believe that? "What...what do you mean you were sleeping?" Twilight asked, slowly approaching the pegasus.

"Huh?" The pegasus turned to face Twilight. She held a forearm behind her head and from what Twilight could tell, still seemed to be concerned about her hooves. "Oh, well hello to you too," the cerulean pegasus replied. Not the response Twilight had been hoping for... "Man, it's all answers and work with you, isn't it?" the pegasus went on to ask, having witnessed the unicorn's behavior just moments ago. She smirked as she went on to ask, "Mind at least telling me your name?"

Well if it meant getting answers out of her quicker... "It's...Twilight." Twilight paused for a moment leading the pegasus to believe she was finished.

"Well hello, Twilight—"

"Sparkle," Twilight continued to say, cuing a confused "Huh?" from the pegasus. "My name...it's Twilight Sparkle." The pegasus gave her a funny look, almost as if questioning whether she was serious or not. Then came the laughter... "It's not funny!" Twilight yelled, growing steamed.

"It totally is!" The pegasus replied in between laughs. "Twilight..._Sparkle_? What kinda lame name is that?" Twilight's cheeks grew red as the pegasus fell over from laughter. "Agh!" the rainbow pegasus suddenly screamed out in pain having hit the floor.

Well at least her laughter stopped... "You're still sore," Twilight remarked. "You have several damaged muscles in both your legs and wings—actually it's quite severe in your wings, and it doesn't help that you just fell back on them. Truthfully, you shouldn't even be moving right now, much less doing something pointless like laughing..."

"Sore? Damaged?" She tilted her head up at Twilight with a look of confusion. "From what?" the pegasus asked from her new position on the floor, now stuck on her back, with both her wings sprawled out on her sides. "I was sleeping, wasn't I?"

"What do you mean _from what_?" Was she serious? She fell from the sky, smashed through glass, and rammed into a cabinet...presumably head first. "You were never _sleeping_, pegasus! You crashed through my window!"

"I did?"

The unicorn gave an annoyed groan. "Yes..." She tilted her head to the side, towards the window. "You may not have noticed but I just finished repairing it. Please avoid smashing through it again, please."

"Wait, you serious? How'd that happen?"

"Agh, I don't know!" Why was she questioning her how it happened? She was the one who crashed through it! Twilight soon fell under the suspicion she was merely messing with her. "You tell me, pegasus. How _did_ it happen?"

"Don't know," the pegasus admitted after a few moments. "I was hoping you could tell me, since you know, you were there when it happened..."

Twilight stared at her, utterly shocked. "Wait...wha, hold up!" There was no way she was telling the truth. "You were up in the sky when it happened! How can you not know what happened!? You were there! Don't tell me you don't remember anything!"

The pegasus remained silent for a few seconds as Twilight waited for an answer. "Well?"

"I...don't."

"You don't?"

"Yeah," the pegasus answered back, "that's what I said, smart one."

Twilight ignored the last remark. "So...you don't remember anything then...is what you're saying?" she asked.

"Is it? Not sure..." the pegasus joked. "My head's aching though, my fur's crusty for some reason," the pegasus pointed out in disgust as she pointed to her chest, "and man oh man, am I starving! Anything to eat around here?"

"I-I'm not giving you anything of ours!" Twilight stammered in response. Not until she got some answers. She was obviously hurt but the question remained whether she could remember things or not, or if she was simply trying to mooch off of her. "Can you remember anything or not? What's your name? Where are you even from?"

"Maybe. Don't know. Don't know." The pegasus tilted her head up at her, grinning. "Maybe if I were to have something to eat it'd help jog my memory..."

"I'm not giving you anything until I know if you're even telling the truth or not!"

"Aw come on..."

"No," Twilight said, growing easily fed up with her presence, "all I'm asking is that you tell me the truth."

"Um Twilight," Spike interjected, entering the scene, "maybe...maybe it wouldn't hurt to give her one bundle of hay—"

"Spike!"

"Attaboy, little dude!" the pegasus cheered. "Although hay's kinda...blah." She paused, stopping and questioning what she just said. "Do I even like hay? Blah food? Hm..."

"What do you mean by that Spike?" Twilight asked him, ignoring the pegasus and now focusing on her assistant. She turned and lead him away from the pegasus. Lowering her voice, she added, "We don't even know who she is, Spike. Much less whether or not she's faking all this. I'm not giving up anything of ours to this...this—"

"Thief?" The two turned around surprised to see the pegasus lying before them and looking directly up at them, having scooted closer across the floor. "That's what you think I am, right?" she asked, her goofy grin having disappeared. "I'm not you know...at least, I don't think I am..."

"Uh, well..." Twilight found herself at a loss once more. Yeah she thought she was more than likely, a thief. She kept joking around with her and refused to tell her anything. Even more so, she still knew nothing about her, and for all she knew, could have been on the run when..._whatever_ it was happened and she crashed through her window. "How did you even hear us?" Twilight asked, in an attempt to change the subject.

"I could hear you talking from all the way back there," she said, pointing a hoof behind her. "Just thought I'd scoot closer, didn't feel right being left out. You know, you really should learn to lower your voice," she added. "Right now you're not exactly good at it..."

"Well at the moment, you're not very good at telling the truth... Guess we're both not very good at certain things..." Twilight mused, turning away, frustrated. "You know things would go a lot smoother if you were to just tell the truth..."

The two remained silent for the longest time. Spike shifted glances between the two, finally asking, "So...are either of you gonna say anything? Are we done here...?"

The pegasus sighed. "Okay, fine egghead. I can't remember anything, alright?"

"I don't believe you," Twilight said, not bothering to glance back at the pegasus. Though she had heard a loud "What?!" following her reply.

"How can you say _I don't believe you_?" the pegasus asked her in disbelief. Twilight had wanted her to tell her the truth and finally deciding to do so, she did! Only for her to not to believe her?

"Easy," Twilight replied calmly, "it's because I don't."

"But I told you the truth!"

"Prove it then," Twilight said. If she really couldn't remember, she'd be able to prove it...somehow. "If you really are telling the truth and you really can't remember anything, then surely you'd be able to prove it."

"But how am I supposed to...?" The pegasus thought on this for a moment. How was she supposed to prove herself? It didn't matter how many questions she asked her, how many times she said she didn't remember, Twilight would more than likely say she still didn't believe her... "How do you suggest I do that?"

"Well..." Twilight soon found she wasn't too sure herself. "Just...I don't know! You're the one I'm asking!" she retorted, easily growing more frustrated. "Just...think of a way, alright?"

"Gee, thanks..." the pegasus muttered under her breath, letting out a deep breath and setting her head down against the marble flooring. Time passed as she lay there, eyes closed and leaving Twilight questioning whether or not she was really thinking, or simply fast asleep.

Eventually Twilight decided to speak up. "Well?" she asked. The pegasus blinked an eye open. "Come up with anything?" The mare shook her head, as she let out a simple "Nope," leaving Twilight in a state of shock. "You had more than enough time to...you were just, I thought you were... No!" Twilight snapped, starling the pegasus. "That's ridiculous! How can you expect me to believe that?"

"Look, Sparkles..." the pegasus began, "It's impossible for me to prove this, alright? You can ask me all the questions you want and I can keep saying I don't know, but that isn't gonna get us anywhere, is it? You wouldn't believe me anyway, right? So..." she paused, glancing up at Twilight from the corner of her eye, "It looks like this is something you're just gonna have to trust me on—"

"Trust?" Twilight cocked her head at her. She had never 'trusted' in anyone before, much less in a complete stranger. Besides, it was the facts that mattered. Facts which she had yet to provide. Maybe it _was_ hard to prove, but how could she believe her unless she knew for certain she _had_ lost her memory. "I...can't do that. Sorry."

"Of course not..." the pegasus muttered in an exasperated tone. "What now then, Sparkles? You won't believe me, won't trust in me either..." Her voice began to trail off as she let out a sigh. "I'm hurt too, or so you say... Oh, and I'm still sorta hungry."

"You're hungry, you're hungry; I heard you the first hundred times..." Twilight whispered something to Spike and then proceeded to her desk as he left the room. "Look pegasus, I still have much work to catch up on from earlier," she said, now looming over her work area and using her magic to lay out a fresh scroll before her. "So here's what we'll do."

"Hey hey, hold up!" she interjected, having paid little mind to what Twilight had been saying and kept her eyes focused on the dragon, pointing a hoof in his direction as he left the room. "Where's he running off to?"

"Firstly..." she began, not bothering to look up from her work station and proceeded to flare her horn. In an instant, a magical barrier formed around the pegasus with hopes it would stop her if she attempted to move. "Stop moving. That's the last thing you should be doing. Secondly, you'll be going to the hospital later. After I finish what needs to be finished, that is."

She stopped pawing against the barrier as she turned to look to her. "Hos...pital? What's...that's not gonna hurt is it?"

Twilight tapped a hoof against her forehead. "It's not a _thing_, pegasus. It's a place. They'll fix you up there," she explained. Was she serious? How did she not know what a hospital was? Either she was a really convincing liar, or she really had lost her memory and it was much worse than she would have thought. Or she was just simple-minded. Regardless, hopefully they'd take her off her hooves as well...

"Well, thanks...but I think I'll pass," she replied, rolling onto her side. "I don't really feel like moving much. 'Sides, I'm not even that hurt!" she insisted, rolling over onto her stomach and standing up, flaring her wings outwards. Or as far out as she could anyway, from within the cramped purple barrier Twilight had stuck her in. "See—" she paused, wincing and retracting her wings, letting out a stifled grunt. "Perfectly...fine," she managed to finish, forcing a fake grin in Twilight's direction.

Twilight watched her from the corner of her eye. _Oh yes, very convincing..._ she mused, holding back a smirk. "You don't have a choice here, pegasus," Twilight replied, returning back to the matter at hand and picking out a quill pen and using her magic, began to jot down notes onto the scroll. "You're going."

"And just how do you expect me to get there?"

"I don't know... Fly?" she retorted. "You _did_ say you were fine, right?"

"Uh, well I—"

"Was faking," Twilight interjected, finishing her statement. "I get it." She set the pen down for a moment, turning to face the mare once more, now seeing she had collapsed back onto the floor. "I'll...think of something, alright?" Twilight assured her. Then asked, "You _can_ walk, right?"

"'Course I can!" the pegasus quickly exclaimed in response, jolting upwards, but not without grunting in pain as she felt a sudden stabbing pain in her legs, causing her forearms to bend over and resulting in her losing her balance.

Twilight simply rolled her eyes as she turned back to face her work and as she began to write again, grumbled, "Didn't think so..."

"Hey, I can too!" she snapped back, lying once more on the floor. She lowered her head. _Just not very well at the moment..._ "Well I sorta can...maybe if I—"

"Take it slow?" Twilight surmised, interjecting and finishing what she had suspected the pegasus to say.

Okay that was getting annoying. That was the second time Twilight had cut her off, and guessed what she had to say. And she was right every time... "Uh, yeah..." she replied in a muffled voice. "Yeah actually..."

"Good, it seems like you're actually starting to listen to me. Good pegasus." Twilight smiled to herself as she waved a hoof in the pegasus's direction, as if she were patting her on the head. The cerulean pegasus narrowed her eyes. Listen to her? She had just so happened to have guessed what she was going to say! But still...maybe, maybe she should try listening to her. Irritating as she was, Twilight was willing to help and she wasn't exactly in the position not to accept it.

"So anyway," Twilight continued, "as I mentioned before, I do have work to finish around here. There's lists which need to be rewritten before I can even get back to work, then..." She stopped and pointed a hoof to a random area of the room where piles of books lay spread carelessly about. "See all of these books? I have to re-shelve each and every one."

"That's a lot of books..." she mused, having turned to look at them. "So...why exactly are they on the floor? Shouldn't they be like, on the shelves? Wait..." The thought suddenly occurred to her. "I didn't cause all this, did I?"

"No, pegasus..." Twilight replied after a moment of writing. "I, before you came crashing through here, had decided to do a bit of cleaning around here. This tower—"

"Wait, wait, hold up," she interjected, stopping Twilight mid-sentence.

"Yes?" Twilight questioned, wondering what she could possibly want to know now.

"So, this is a tower?" she asked. "We're in a tower...?"

That's all she was wondering? "Oh well, yes, we are," Twilight responded. "The Ivory Tower to be precise..." Jeez, what was she gonna ask next? What a tower was? Since she had forgotten what a hospital was, the idea didn't seem too farfetched. Still, the thought of her asking such a thing caused a soft chuckle to slip pass her lips, which she quickly covered up with a hoof.

"The Ivory Tower...huh." The pegasus grew silent.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Does it sound familiar?"

"Not one bit," she replied, glancing back at Twilight with the same goofy grin from earlier. This took Twilight by surprise. She had certainly sounded like she had recognized the name from somewhere. And why was she so happy about it?

"Say, what's a tower?" she added.

Twilight's jaw dropped. "You...but you said, and I thought—" she continued to stammer, finding this impossible to believe. She couldn't believe it; this was too much. She had found the thought to be a bit humorous moments ago, but never thought she'd actually ask such a thing! Oh how she wished she really was just messing with her... If she wasn't, this really was worse than she could have imagined.

"Well?" the pegasus asked, interrupting her thoughts. "Gonna tell me, or just stand there stammering to yourself?"

Twilight blushed.

"I-it's sorta like..." she paused, stopping to think about it. She never had to describe what a tower was, of all things, to another pony. "Sorta like...one tall, enormous structure. They're usually thinner than they are wide, and..." What else could she say? Without boring or confusing her by talking about the history, functions, or mechanics of them either. "It's...our home too," she finished. "Mine, and Spike's."

"Spike?"

"The 'little dragon dude'," Twilight explained, cuing the pegasus to let out an "Ohh," as she now realized who the mare was talking about.

"So that's his name..." she mused. "So like, this isn't my home then, I'm guessing?"

Twilight shook her head, mentally rolling her eyes. Why would she think that? Twilight had already been over the fact she had flown in from somewhere else... "No, pegasus, it isn't," she replied. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"Dunno," she answered as she lazily shrugged, "guess my mind's not in the right place at the moment what with all the stuff that's happened..." Twilight supposed that was understandable. After all, the chance of her faking was still there, but if she really was telling the truth then memory loss, mixed with multiple injuries, and an unfamiliar setting and surrounded by strangers would seem overwhelming.

"Just thought that maybe I had accidentally crashed into my own home by mistake or something while flying outside..."

"Well, I can assure you that wasn't the case," she replied, as she went on to restate, "Spike and I are the only ones who live here... Sorry." The pegasus lowered her head, having been disappointed to hear that. "I never did get a good look at where you flew in from or anything," she added. "I just know that you came falling out of the sky."

Twilight was about to speak again when a faint growling sound could be heard coming from where the pegasus lay, stopping her. Twilight smirked, raising an eyebrow in her direction. "Is that? Are you...?"

She could feel her cheeks grow warm. "I-I told you I was hungry..." she muttered, having closed her eyes and shifted away from Twilight.

"A thousands times too, I'm impressed!" the unicorn teased, causing her to grow more flustered than before.

Her eyes blinked open. "It hasn't been a thousand times!" she shot back, cheeks bright red. "More like..."

"A thousand and one times?"

"H-hey! That tears it!" the pegasus yelled, shooting up from the ground and pounding her hoofs against the barrier. "Let me outta here! I'll, I'll-"

"Do nothing?" Twilight assumed, letting out a soft giggle. She quickly covered this up with a hoof, but even that couldn't stop the building laughter. She certainly was an interesting pegasus; that much she was right about.

"Hey, why are you...? What's so funny?" she questioned.

Twilight instead, simply shook her head. "Look...just, calm down, alright?" she said, having regained her composure. "I sent Spike to fetch one bundle of hay—"

Wait, had she heard right? "Hay?" The pegasus's eyes widened as a large grin began to form. "Wait...really? You mean it?" Her mind flashed back to earlier. _So that's where he went off to..._ she thought.

"Just _one_ bundle though, understand?" she stated, snapping the pegasus from her thoughts. "Anything to stop your whining..." she joked. Though she would be lying if she said her constant whining hadn't managed to get on her nerves. "Besides, I suppose I can't leave you to starve..."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you, Sparkles!"

"It's Twilight," she said, getting rather tired of the "Sparkles" nickname. "Please, do you think you could start calling me that?"

"Uh-huh. Anything you say, Sparkles." Her mind was still heavily focused on thought of finally getting something to eat. All she had heard from her was something about calling her Sparkles, or something...

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Well anyway, moving on here..." she said, pretending to have ignored what she had said, "We need to address _your_ name."

"My name?" the pegasus wondered. "What do you mean by that? Sparkles, I'm pretty sure I told you already I _don't_ remember it."

"I know you did," Twilight said, promptly returning to her work. "But I'm finding it rather tedious having to constantly refer to you as 'pegasus'," she continued to say. "Of course that's what you are, but still... You'll need a new name."

"Hold up, hold up!" Even if she couldn't remember it, she still had a name. And she wasn't exactly thrilled about some unicorn suggesting she take a new one. "What if...maybe I don't want a new name?"

"Oh, so you would rather go by pegasus then?"

"Well no, but—"

"Then it's settled," Twilight said, "we'll address your new name later, _after_ I finish what needs to be done." The pegasus gave out a muffled groan. It was pointless arguing with her it seemed...especially over something as trivial as a name.

"Fine..." she answered back, less than enthusiastic. Twilight smiled softly to herself as she focused on finishing up the last of her writing and began thinking up a new name for her guest. She thought about this for many moments, finding herself unknowingly tapping her pen against the desk. And soon, completely forgot about finishing her lists. Her mind was solely focused on finding a name for her... But what? This was harder than she thought it'd be.

Then it hit her. The way the two had met, her unique looks... She'd make a name out of those factors. Excited, Twilight turned to the pegasus with a huge grin, and before the pegasus could even question what she was so happy about, she exclaimed, "Rainbow Crash!" A pretty good name if she did say so herself. Twilight just hoped she would think the same. "Well? What do you think?"

Well...she uh, didn't. I guess she took the 'Crash' part of her name as a bit demeaning. So I tried again, and again, and I kept at it. Only for her to shoot down everything I came up with. She did seem to take a liking to 'Rainbow' however, and after becoming a little too irritated to give her name another attempt and unable to come up with anything herself, we decided on Rainbow for the time being. Once Spike returned, I gave her some hay to munch on, having lowered the barrier around her while I returned to what I should've been working on from the start. I inspected and returned many of the books back to their rightful place upon the shelves. Rainbow however, was doing nothing but carelessly chatting the time away with Spike, or tossing out an occasional question towards me while I worked. It amazed me how well she seemed to be taking supposedly losing her memory. It wasn't that I didn't believe her; I was starting to actually. But what pony, after losing not only crucial facts about their life but also basic knowledge, acts if nothing is wrong? She could've been hiding it all sure, or simply didn't make it out to be a big deal, or perhaps was glad to have rid herself of her past memories...

"Blech, this is so...yuck," Rainbow groaned as her chewing slowed to a stop, finding it increasingly hard to swallow the hay, much less keep it in her mouth.

"Well you said you were hungry. Take it or leave it," Twilight responded from across the room, busy digging into a pile of books. "Now let's see... Gs, where are you...?" Re-shelving and inspecting the books were one thing. For Twilight, alphabetizing everything was no less important.

"Yeah, but..." She stuck her tongue out, brushing off pieces of hay with her hoof. "Got anything that's, I don't know..._tasty_ around here?"

"Hay is tasty!"

"Well I guess someone has to think so," she mused, turning and positioning herself so she now had a good view of the unicorn. "So, no then? Man...I'm still hungry, Sparkles. Oh and thirsty too. That hay was a bit too dry..."

"But you wanted it!"

"And now I don't."

Twilight fought back the urge to scream. She was unbelievable! She finally decided to share a bit of food with her, and despite apparently starving to death, didn't want it. _Calm down, Twilight...she'll be gone eventually...keep your cool..._ she told herself. Taking a deep breath, she then replied as calmly as possible, "I'm not sharing anymore of our food with you." She then added, "Perhaps you'll like hospital food better."

"Hospital food?"

"That place I'm taking you to later, remember?" she reminded the pegasus. "They offer food to the patients there so it'll looks like you'll be stuck eating whatever they serve you there." Before Rainbow could ask, Twilight cut in, having a feeling of what she was about to ask next. "And no," she added, "I hear it's not very good."

"And you know this because...?"

"Word of mouth, books—"

"So, you're telling me that you've never actually been to one of these...hos-thingys before?"

"Well I've never been hospitalized, if that's what you were asking."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't go crashing into other ponies' houses!" she shot back. Hopefully that would do the trick and get her to shut up for five seconds. But of course, it didn't...

"Isn't this technically a tower? Not a house?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight groaned. Why couldn't she have come with an off switch? "Spike..." she weakly called out to her assistant.

The dragon looked up from a seat he had taken earlier. "Yeah?"

"Keep her occupied please."

Spike sighed, placing whatever comic he had been reading away. "Fine..." he said, climbing down and walking over to join Rainbow. "Hey," he greeted the pegasus, "so no hay, huh?"

"What can I say? I'm not a big fan..." she joked, making a slightly bitter face towards the hay.

"You know I've never met a pony who didn't like hay."

"Guess that makes me sorta special then, huh?" she grinned.

She turned to Spike, lowering her voice as she asked, "Look, uh you sure you ain't got anything better to eat 'round here?"

"Well—"

"Don't you dare, Spike," Twilight warned, making sure Spike didn't give in. "She'll eat later, at the hospital, isn't that right?" she added, shifting a glance at the pegasus. "Right?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Jeez," she muttered, rolling her eyes. She whispered to Spike, "She's always like this, isn't she?"

"Who, Twilight?" Spike asked, looking back at the busy mare. "Well not normally, no..." he replied. "She's just... Well, you did mess up her schedule for the day... And she's uh very, persnickety..."

"Persincke-wha?"

"Beats me, I just hear Twilight use it when she's like this," Spike replied. He thought on the word for a moment. "I think it means...like, being obsessive or something," he added, causing a small chuckle to escape the pegasus.

"That sounds about right," she mused as she watched the violet mare dig through heaps of books. A few moments of silence passed between the two before Rainbow decided to ask, "So anyway, how exactly is it that you know her?"

Spike was taken back by the sudden question. No one had ever asked about this before. "Isn't that a bit of a personal question?"

"Is it?"

"Well... I-It's kind of a long story too—"

"It's cool, I've got plenty of time," she replied, calling out to Twilight, "Isn't that right, Sparkles?" No reply. Too busy working it seemed. "Yeah, that's right, Rainbow!" she said, in her best Twilight imitation. "See? Sparkles agrees."

_Oh, I'm sure she does..._ Spike thought. But still, if it wasted time and kept her occupied, like Twilight had asked of him to do... "Alright, you win I suppose. I'll tell you..."

* * *

"Just one more book...and..." Twilight lifted a book off the ground using her magic and after a quick inspection, placed it with the others. "Done. Whew..." She wiped a forearm across her brow, though hardly any sweat had formed, as she admired her work. Every book had been carefully examined, cleaned off, alphabetized and placed neatly back where they belonged. Not bad if she said so herself, and now with her work completed, could attend to the other matter on her hooves... _Haven't heard from her in a while it seems..._ Twilight realized, having noticed the absence of the rainbow mare's ramblings. The same could have been said about Spike.

_Must've zoned out while I was working..._ she thought, figuring she had become too busy to pay attention to what they had been saying. _Wonder what they're up to...?_ She turned with this thought in mind and saw Spike and Rainbow sitting in the same spot as before; Spike sitting cross-legged opposite her and Rainbow lazily laid out on the floor. Spike appeared to be telling her a story or something... And as she listened in, she knew what he was telling her. "Telling her that story, huh Spike?"

Spike nearly jumped as the sound of Twilight's voice. "Oh Twilight! I uh, didn't know you were—"

"Done?" she assumed.

"Listening," he replied, having forgotten Twilight was even in the room, much less done with her work and eavesdropping on their conversation. "I was just telling her about—"

"My entrance exam, I know," Twilight said, taking a seat on the floor next to the two.

"You're not mad or anything, are you...?"

"Who me? No no, of course not." she assured, Especially if it kept Rainbow quiet and from distracting her while she worked. She would have to remember to thank Spike later for this. "So remind me again... What part were you at again?"

"Only the part where you totally lost it and went all crazy-powerful with your magic!" Rainbow burst in. "Man Sparkles, I never would've guessed you were so powerful."

"I uh—what?" Twilight stammered in response. Powerful? Lost it? She was quick to defend. "I-I never 'lost' anything!" Twilight remarked. "Mind you, I was completely _in_ control." _...Or am now, anyway..._ she thought.

"You know you don't have to hide anything, Sparkles," Rainbow replied. "We all know you're lying." Twilight gave her a funny look. Who? Her and Spike?

"Spike here did just tell me the whole story," she continued, "and hey, that is pretty cool if you ask me! Having so much power inside of you—"

It's not 'cool' Rainbow, it's dangerous. Having so much power requires many hours of studying and intense focus to keep it in check."

Rainbow faked a yawn. "Yeah yeah, but you have it under control now, right?" she asked.

"Only somewhat, but—look, why are we even discussing this?" She shook her head, standing on all fours. With a flare of her horn, surrounded Rainbow's body in a light purple aura, pulling her off the ground.

"H-hey!" the startled pegasus stammered, between small laughs. "T-this tickles! And h-hey easy! What are you—?"

"Just be quiet for five seconds, please," Twilight answered as she lowered her back down and set her back on her hooves. "Time to go."

"Go?" Rainbow questioned, still wobbly from Twilight's latest spell. Her body began to ache just being on her hooves again. "Go where...?"

Keeping a magical aura wrapped around the pegasus's body, she replied, "To the hospital. How many times am I gonna have to remind you?"

"A few more times wouldn't hurt," she said jokingly, though Twilight didn't find it as funny. She simply rolled her eyes, and turned and headed for the exit, forcefully dragging the pegasus along with her.

"I did say I'd take you after I finished what needed to be finished, and I did so..." She pointed to a staircase that led down to the main lobby. "Off we go."

"But I said I don't wanna..." she whined.

She tightened her magical grip around the pegasus. "_And_ I said you don't have a choice. You're going." she reminded her sternly. Before heading down the stairs, turned to Spike. "Watch over the place while I'm gone, Spike. I should be back soon..." she told him as she turned and began her descent down the staircase. "Hopefully..." she added, in a quite whisper.

* * *

So with my chores for the day having been completed and a very unenthusiastic pegasus trailing behind, I left for the nearest hospital I could think of. I did hope she would be alright under their care, and that everything would go smoothly once she was dropped off there. As in her wounds and, _whatever_ it was that was wrong with her head would be treated, and she would soon be able to return to...wherever she came from. More importantly, I hoped she wouldn't wreck the place during her stay and cause damage that, for whatever reason, I myself could have been found liable for. I thought that maybe I should stay by her side, and perhaps in doing so, ease her nerves a bit. After all, I was the only one she apparently knew anymore. Well, me _and_ Spike anyway. But, I couldn't. This was just going to have to be where we said our goodbyes. Still, I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in what became of her, or...dare I say, miss her—only a little though! And not in like, a caring way or anything...but as annoying as she was, it was nice to have someone else to be around, besides Spike. But she had her own life to return to, as did I...

"So, Sparkles, you know that really is an amazing talent you have," Rainbow remarked, floating above the streets and pathways, still bound by Twilight's magic as she walked. "I bet you could totally do anything you wanted, with a little training that is."

Well, anything except getting her to shut up... Twilight paid little attention to what she was saying however. Her mind was focused on other matters... _Oh Celestia, this is so embarrassing!_ Her barely going out in public was one thing, but the one time she _does_ go out in public and it's with some strange and unfamiliar pegasus from who knows where, bound and moved about by her magic. That must've been a sight for other ponies who were out on an afternoon stroll. She kept her head lowered, not wishing to meet the gaze of other questioning ponies. She assumed Rainbow felt the same way. Or not, considering the way she was chatting away.

She began debating whether or not to try a shortcut. Maybe cut through some alleyways? No, that was a stupid idea. Twilight Sparkle takes mysterious bounded pegasus into dark alleyway. She could see it now. No, it was best she stuck to the path she was on...and hope nopony paid her any mind. Maybe if they didn't focus on Rainbow too much, they may even think she was a balloon of sorts! ...Oh who was she kidding? Reputation. Ruined.

"Oh hey, a dessert shop!" she heard the pegasus say. She glanced over her her shoulder back at Rainbow, who was now looking off in the direction of a familiar shop she'd take Spike to every once in a while. That's was Joe's shop she had been pointed out. She didn't actually want to stop there, did she?

"We should totally stop by there!" Rainbow exclaimed. Of course she did. Big surprise there... "Maybe after we leave this hospital place—or no, right now! We should totally go now!"

"I don't even have any bits on me, Rainbow!"

"Okay..?" Rainbow questioned, titling her head at her. "But you still have money, right?"

She placed a hoof against her forehead. This mare was giving her a headache... "Bits. Are. Money." Jeez, how could she forget that? But what did she mean by going afterwards...? Rainbow did realize they would be going their separate ways after this, didn't she? Thinking about it and about the kind of mare Rainbow was she realized, _Oh Celestia, she didn't..._

"Uh, Rainbow..."

"Okay, so I forgot what bits were. So sue me. It's not the first thing I've forgotten today—"

She raised her voice. "Rainbow!"

"Huh, wha...?" Rainbow shifted her attention towards Twilight. "You say something?"

"Well yes, er, no—I needed your attention."

"Oh...well, you got it."

Twilight decided not to beat around the bush here; that it'd be best just to come out and ask what was on her mind. So she did. "You said something about the two of _us_ going to that shop afterwards?" Twilight paused, then repeated what she had been attempting to put emphasize on. "Us?"

"Oh, well...yeah! I mean you'll be with me during my stay at the hospital so why not afterward—"

"I won't be staying with you."

_Won't be staying...?_ Okay, whatever that meant. Rainbow mentally shrugged, figuring she meant she'd be returning to check up on Spike or something. She assumed that's what Twilight meant. "Oh...so, you won't be there with me. I see, that's cool," she assured. "I'll just...wait for you when you get back then."

"No, no no, Rainbow, that's _not_ what I meant."

"Oh? Then what—"

Twilight didn't bother to wait for her to finish. She had a feeling of what she was going to say anyway. "We won't be seeing one another after I drop you off..." she explained to the pegasus. "...I'll be signing you in, then leaving you in more capable hooves." She kept her gaze fixed on the road ahead of her. "This...is where we say our goodbyes, Rainbow."

Silence ensued. Twilight awaited an answer from her or some kind of sign that she had at least heard her. Twilight thought of stopping, or perhaps talking this over with her. After all, who knew what the pegasus was feeling at this moment. Anger? Sadness? Betrayal? She _was_ the only one whom she knew anymore, Spike aside.

"Oh..." she finally said. "I see."

Well at least she decided to speak. "Uh, Rainbow..." What was she supposed to say? Yeah, Rainbow probably didn't want to be left alone, what with no memory and Twilight being one of the few she knew anymore. Oh, what did she care? They barely knew one another! Why was she even remotely feeling bad about leaving her alone? She would just drop her off and they could each go back to their own lives...hopefully. But still... "Look I know how you feel—"

"I seriously doubt that..." she retorted, under her breath.

"But," she continued, paying no mind to Rainbow's remark, "I have my own life to return to, as do you...and..." Oh Celestia, this was difficult. And she had a feeling whatever she said wouldn't make either of them feel better... "Look, I think...I think it'd be best if we just forget about one another, and forget any of this ever happened."

"Forget...? Sparkles, how can you suggest we just forget each other?"

"Easy," she replied, "we were never meant to meet in the first place and we would probably never see each other again anyway... It's best everything just return to normal as soon as possible."

"Says the least normal of all of us..."

"What—"

"Look, just...never mind. Fine fine, you're right about us. It's not like we were ever meant to meet anyway. I'd just be a burden hanging around you and Spike anyway," she mused, faking a laugh. "Best if things just...went back to the way they were, right?"

Twilight was astonished. Rainbow was actually seeing it her way... She couldn't help but feel a bit pleased; this had gone better than she had thought. "Right..." Twilight replied.

"And we _are_ practically strangers after all."

"Exactly." Twilight continued walking, her thoughts no longer focused on what other ponies thought of them, but on the pegasus. If Rainbow had been lying to her just now, she could have fooled her. "Good to know you're seeing it my way."

Rainbow answered back in a muffled, "Yuhuh." Not exactly the response Twilight had been looking but it was better than nothing. Neither of them said much after that. Not until arriving at their destination anyway.

"And here we are!" she announced, setting Rainbow back upon the ground for a quick moment. Rainbow looked up at the building inquisitively. A rather large rectangular, mostly white and blue building, with rows upon rows of windows, and large brightly lit letters that hung above the entrance to the building that read, 'Canterlot Health Service Hospital'...

"So this is where I'll be staying?" Rainbow asked, looking around at her surroundings. Everywhere she looked there was a tree, or bush—or some sort of plant anyway planted outside. Even potted plants of various sizes rested by the entrance, while others hung above it. "Yeesh, what's with all the plants around here?"

"Typical hospital décor I guess," Twilight answered, not giving them as much attention as Rainbow was. "And yes, this is where you'll be staying. Try not to wreck it during your stay, please."

Rainbow turned to Twilight. "You're not gonna let that go, are you?"

Twilight softly chuckled. "Come on, you," she said, resuming her walk and lifting the pegasus into the air once more. The two passed through the automatic doors into the lobby as a small _ding_ noise sounded. A few ponies looked up from what they had been doing and questionably looked at the two...the ones that were lounging about in the waiting area anyway. A couple mares stood behind a counter on the opposite end of the room and didn't pay them any mind. After spending seconds in the building, it quickly occurred to the unicorn as to why she hated hospitals. The smells, and atmosphere... She couldn't stand it. "Alright," she sighed, "let's get this over with."

She heard Rainbow murmur a quick "Oh joy," before heading to greet the receptionist. She stopped inches before the desk, as she suddenly lost her concentration and dropped Rainbow on the ground in front of her with a thud. "Ow!" she grunted in pain. "Watch it, Sparkles!"

"S-sorry!" she apologized, now realizing she accidentally dropped the injured pegasus a few feet above the ground. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry! I-I lost my focus and I wasn't paying attention and..." Her voice trailed as she remembered where she was again...with other ponies eying the two of them. _Oh, terrific..._ she mentally groaned. They weren't even here for a minute and she had already succeeded in causing a scene. Forget what she had said about her reputation having been ruined. No, oh no. Now it had been mangled, crumpled, stepped upon, torn to shreds... Well hey, maybe if she spent the next week or two away in the tower, ponies would eventually forget! Oh who was she fooling...? Nopony would ever forget this...

The blonde mare looked up from her counter full of cluttered paperwork, shifting a suspicious glance at the two mares on the other side. "Can I help you?" the nurse asked, directing the question towards Twilight.

"Oh uh, well..." She gazed down at Rainbow. "Um... She needs help."

"She?" the mare asked, casually glancing over the counter. "The...pegasus?"

"Yes," Twilight answered, finding it rather hard to make eye contact and preferred to keep her head low. She kept her gaze fixed on Rainbow as she continued. "She's hurt, and uh, could really use some help."

_Jeez, Sparkles...what the hay?_ Rainbow thought, quietly listening in on what she was saying. This wasn't the Twilight that she, despite their limited time together, had come to know. This was...some shy, nervous, socially awkward Twilight. Rainbow couldn't help but wonder if she was only like this in public.

"Uh-huh, that's great to know, kid," the female nurse replied, sounding almost completely uninterested. "You gonna tell me how and why specifically she needs help, or...?"

"Well—"

This was too painful to watch. "Yeah," Rainbow spoke up, deciding she'd help Twilight out, "I uh, accidentally smashed through this here pony's window, and ended up breaking a bone or two, inured some joints, the works." she explained to Twilight's surprise. "Think I lost my memory too—no, I know I did," she added. "This here unicorn though has been more than nice enough to watch over me and even escort me here, even if the ride was a bit bumpy..."

"R-Rainbow!" Twilight stammered, easily growing steamed. She could feel her face burning up. There was no need to mention the last part, much less explain her situation herself. Twilight had everything under control. "I've got this, Rainbow..." she whispered to the pegasus.

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow laughed. "Then what's with the nervous speech? Uhm, uh, um... She like totally um, needs help..." Rainbow mimicked, in her stuck up Twilight impression.

Twilight froze. "T-That's not how I sound!" she shot back, triggering further laughter from the pegasus. "I never use the term 'totally' either!"

"You don't say?" Rainbow giggled. _Anything to waste time..._ she mused, smiling to herself. She heard Twilight let out another one of her typical groans whenever she got annoyed. _She gets annoyed a little too easily..._ Rainbow paused, correcting herself. _Or whenever she's around me, anyway..._

"Cute, no really, you two are quite the pair, but now's not really the time or place to be discussing such things," the nurse commented, having watched their tiny argument from behind the desk. Rainbow and Twilight stopped and turned to face the nurse, both finding themselves blushing. Twilight, even more furiously than before. She had a point yeah, but did she have to use the terms 'cute' or 'pair'? She made it sound like... Twilight shook this horrid thought from her head. Herself with..._her_? There were so many things wrong with merely the idea of it all... She was a mare, first of all. Was that even possible? A mare dating another mare? Twilight didn't know, but was quickly disgusted by the thought.

She glanced over at Rainbow from the corner of her eye, and wondered if she were wondering the same thing. If the same thoughts were going through her mind as well. Or maybe she forgot what love, or dating was too... Wouldn't have surprised her.

"Right, it's not...we're sorry," Twilight apologized, bowing her head, having turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Look, my...uh, _acquaintance_ here apparently doesn't remember anything about who she is or where she came from. Plus there's the injuries which she of course already mentioned." She stopped for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I was hoping I could leave her here...under your care... I can do that, right?"

"It's a hospital, miss. Does that answer your question?"

"Uh..."

"Look, here's the sign-in sheet," she said, pointing to a quill and sheet of paper, lying on the counter. "Print the patient's name and I'll handle the rest, considering you never made an appointment or anything..."

They were supposed to? "Oh uh, sorry about that..." Twilight sheepishly replied, then headed to sign Rainbow's name in. She promptly picked up the quill from the counter and began to write. She stopped however, looking over what she had written and frowning, crossed it out. _Oh, what do I put...? Are you allowed to lie on these things? Do I put Rainbow even though that's not her name?_ Twilight fretted over these thoughts.

"Is there a problem?"

Twilight snapped from her thoughts. "No, not at all!" she assured with a nervous grin. "Just..." She glanced back at the paper. It was a complete mess. Finding a small chunk of white space that was available, she wrote down one word. "Rain...bow." she said as she finished. "There. All set."

"Uh-huh..." the mare said, questionably looking the sheet over, having lifted it away from Twilight using her magic. The numerous ink blots and cross-outs made the paper near ineligible. Though she could make out what appeared to be a name, scribbled off to the side. "Alright...you two go take a seat over there," she said, pointing a hoof at the waiting area. "There will be a doctor out to greet you shortly."

_Out shortly, huh?_ "Alright... Um, thanks," Twilight said, receiving an annoyed "Mhm," in response; then turned to take a seat, encasing Rainbow's body in a magical aura and picking her up from the ground. "Alright, come on Rainbow..." she said as she began walking. She trotted over to where several bench-like seats lay, lined against the walls. She carefully sat Rainbow down as she took a seat herself.

Rainbow noticed Twilight take a seat and curious, asked, "I...thought you weren't gonna stick around?"

"I'm only 'sticking around' to make sure you receive the attention and help you need," she explained. "I didn't quite care for her attitude, and, I just..." She stopped, now finding herself gazing down at the tiles on the floor, biting down on her lip and feeling her body heat up again.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Freezing up again?"

"N-no!" Twilight suddenly shot back, though quickly covered her mouth with a hoof, remembering where they were. "No," she repeated, in a more...quiet tone, "I only want to see to it they take proper care of you—"

"So you do care about me!"

"I must certainly do not," she replied. "I simply want to know you'll receive the help you need, and the sooner I know this, the sooner we can get back to our own lives."

Rainbow thought on what she said for a moment. "That's still caring, Sparkles," she replied, much to Twilight's displeasure.

"No, Rainbow, it's not." she insisted.

"It _so_ is. Face it, you care about me Sparkles."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying!" Twilight snapped, causing the rainbow pegasus to back off, if only a little. "I don't care about you, alright?" Maybe that was a bit harsh... But it's not like it wasn't true. "You've been nothing but a pain since we met. You're obnoxious, ungrateful, rude, annoying..."

"Interesting story, Sparkles—"

"It's Twilight!"

"Eh, whatever helps you sleep at night I guess," Rainbow said, not seeming the least bit phased by anything Twilight said. "Anyway, I know you won't admit it, but I know you care. I mean you wouldn't have done all this for me if you _didn't_—"

"I'm doing this to get you out of my life. What part didn't you get?"

Rainbow laughed. "The part where you were trying to get me out of your life?" she replied. If she really was trying, she wasn't doing a very good job of it so far. She smirked ever so slightly as she shifted her gaze away from the violet mare to instead what lay before her. This was as good a time as any to change the subject she supposed. "So anyway, what do you think that mare's problem was earlier?"

Twilight looked up at Rainbow, dumbfounded. Where did that come from? One minute they were arguing, the next... _Oh hey, like Twilight. So like, what was totally up with that mare just now?_ She repeated Rainbow's question over in her head...more in the way she had heard it. Was this supposed to be her attempt at changing the subject? Still, she supposed anything would be better than arguing back and fourth over ridiculous matters. "Dunno," Twilight finally replied, "hard work day, perhaps?"

"Come on, Sparkles, try harder," Rainbow said, nudging her with the tip of one of her wings. Why she had done that, who knew. Especially since her wings were still very sore. "Try being more, eh...imaginative." Rainbow laughed. "I'd say she got dumped today or something..."

_Dumped...?_ Twilight wondered amidst herself. "Rainbow...that doesn't make any sense. You're saying she was thrown out?"

Rainbow burst out laughing, leaving Twilight both confused and the center of some very unwanted attention. "No, Sparkles," Rainbow replied, "dumped means, like..." Rainbow paused, pondering on how to describe this to her. "It means... Um, oh!" Then it hit her. "When you decide to quit being friends with a certain pony," she explained. "Or like, say you're in a relationship and your partner breaks up with you. You've been dumped."

Twilight couldn't believe what the pegasus had told her. Not the meaning, no; rather, the fact Rainbow actually knew something she didn't! And what surprised her more was her apparent knowledge on...romance? Oh sure, she forgets who she is was, what a tower was—even what a hospital was! But couldn't forget facts on dating and romance... _Unbelievable..._ Twilight mused. This thought had passed through her head and now it was passing through again. But she definitely wasn't any ordinary pegasus...

"Oh, I knew that..." Twilight said innocently in response. She wasn't about to let Rainbow believe there was something she _didn't_ know.

_She really needs to get out more..._ Rainbow thought, holding back a grin. "Oh, sure you did," she replied in a sarcastic tone, further annoying the mare. "But anyway, I'm certain that's what it was! You heard what she said about us! You, me, cute together—"

"Rainbow, please!" Twilight said, increasingly growing flustered. "Look, many Canterlot ponies are like that. Her behavior had nothing to do with what you're suggesting—"

"What?" Rainbow replied, oblivious to what Twilight told her and instead finding this to be a perfect opportunity to mess with the unicorn. "You know we look perfect together, Dear," Rainbow jokingly said, leaning and placing her head against Twilight's forearm.

Twilight however, didn't find it as humorous. She quickly pulled her arm away, and as Rainbow's head began to slip through air, elbowed her in the cheek. Hard.

Rainbow returned to her own chair, grasping the side of her face in pain."Sparkles, what the hay—?"

"Next time it'll be the horn," she threatened, her tone growing more serious. "Don't ever joke about something like that."

She wasn't kidding either; Rainbow could tell simply by the tone in her voice. She was serious about this. Still, it had only been a joke. No need to have gotten so worked up over it... "Look," she began, "I, uh..."

"It's called saying you're sorry," Twilight interjected. "If you were even planning an apology, that is."

"An apology...?"

_Great, did she forget what those were too?_ "What? Did you forget how to apologize as well?"

"Huh? No, no... It's just..." Her voice drifted off as she began thinking. Something about all this seemed vaguely familiar...It wasn't until Twilight spoke up again that Rainbow was snapped from her sudden thoughts.

"Hello?" she called, waving a hoof in front of Rainbow's eyes. "Just what?"

"Oh uh... Look, just...never mind," she told Twilight. "Sorry, alright?" She huffed, turning opposite of the mare and resting her chin against an armrest attached to the end of the bench.

_Well at least she apologized..._ "Uh-huh..." Twilight murmured, not wishing to say anything else. She folded her forearms as she slouched further down in her seat. Neither of them had decided to speak after that. Rainbow remained sprawled out on her seat, using the armrest as an apparent pillow. Twilight however, continued to sit in such a fashion for minutes to come. She gazed up at the clock. For minutes it seemed, watching time tick by. More minutes passed as she stared at the clock. There had to be something around here to keep herself occupied. Twilight's eyes began wondering around the room in absolute boredom. The same ponies from before sat around, having returned to whatever they had been doing, the same mare behind the counter—had she even done so much as to call somepony? Doctor stallions passed through the lobby every now and then, not paying her or Rainbow any attention. Twilight soon fell under the suspicion the two of them had been forgotten about. _Agh!_ she mentally screamed. This was unbearable!

She twisted her head to the side, looking to see if Rainbow was feeling the same way. Come to think of it, Rainbow had been pretty quiet ever since she muttered her apology. And soon, Twilight knew why. The mare had fallen asleep on her, much to Twilight's surprise. She watched the pegasus as she lay, completely exhausted it seemed, softly snoring and leaving a small trail of saliva where her mouth lay. Disgusting yes...but she couldn't have looked less innocent. Almost like when she had first laid eyes on her back in the tower. All her anger and annoyances with the pegasus seemed to have vanished once more. _Great_, she thought, _what did I do...?_ Even if it were true they would never see each other again...even if it was..._kinda_ true that Twilight wanted the pegasus out of her life; she didn't want the two to leave on a bad note...

Still, as much as Twilight may have wanted to, she couldn't just wake her up. No, she would have to wait for Rainbow to come around. But Celestia only knows how long that would take... Never minding that, how long would it even take for someone to get around to helping them? Rainbow had the right idea; sleep through the wait. Maybe she'd do that as well... _Better than sitting around, staring at the clock I suppose..._ she surmised as she closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall behind them. And before she knew it, had drifted off into a deep slumber...

* * *

"Twilight...?"

_Did...someone just call my name?_ At first she paid no mind to it, passing it off as her imagination. But then it grew louder, snapping her out of her dream-like state. "Twilight!" Her eyes groggily opened, soon discovering she was unable to see anything but blue before her, and muttered a tired, "What?" back at the voice. She still couldn't see how, or where even, the voice was coming from. Was it Rainbow talking? No, no that couldn't be right. She would have never addressed her as 'Twilight'. Instead she would have gone with the Sparkles nickname like every other time she addressed her. Besides, this voice sounded different...though oddly familiar.

"Are you alright?" the voice asked.

"Who is this...?" Twilight tiredly muttered back in response.

The voice remained quiet for a few moments before answering, "It's Spike, Twilight."

Her eyes widened. "Spike?" She couldn't believe it. "Why aren't you...Why are you here at the hospital? Did something happen while I was out?"

Spike stared at the unicorn as if she were crazy. What was she going on about now? "You never _left_, Twilight," he explained. "And what do you mean hospital...? Twilight, open your eyes, look around...this is our home."

_Home...?_ Was it true? Not wasting any time, she titled her head up from the ground and took a look around. The interior, furniture, books...it was the Ivory Tower all right. Spike was right. "Impossible..." she muttered. One minute she had decided to take a small nap, and the next, she was back in the tower. But How? She turned to Spike. "What am I doing back here?"

"I already told you. You never left," Spike answered, becoming worried for her. "What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me? What's gotten into _you_?" Twilight retorted, finding herself unable to make sense out of all this. How could he say she never left? What? Had he somehow lost his memory too? Did he forget Rainbow too—? Then she remembered. "Oh Celestia, Rainbow!"

"Uh...Rainbow?"

"Light-blue pegasus, rainbow mane, around my height and size, loud, obnoxious..." She noticed Spike didn't seem to be following her. "She fell from the sky! She ended up crashing through here! You even told her my exam story! How can you _not_ remember that?"

"Twilight...there is no _rainbow_ pegasus."

"Of course there is!" Twilight insisted. "She forgot who she was, a-and where she came from! She lounged around here without a care in the world, and even insisted on staying too..."

"You fell asleep, Twilight," Spike explained as Twilight gave a baffled, "Huh?" in response.

"What...are you talking about, Spike?"

"I went and opened some windows like you asked, but when I came back, I noticed you had fallen asleep by the window here," he said, holding a hand out towards the large window, which Twilight remembered Rainbow smashing through. Though now she wasn't so sure... Oddly enough, the window was completely repaired, without a single crack. No magic barrier surrounding it...as if Rainbow had never crashed through it.

"I fell...asleep?" she wondered aloud. "N-no..." If she _had_ fallen asleep, that meant... "No no no no no no no no no, no!" she suddenly shouted. This was not... That couldn't have been... Rainbow existed! She wasn't merely a dream like Spike was suggesting! She had talked with her! Touched her, felt her...and on a lesser note, sneezed on her... How was it possible that she had imagined all that? "Where is she, Spike?"

Spike was surprised by Twilight's sudden question. "She?"

"The pegasus—er, Rainbow!"

"I've told you a a million times, Twilight, she _doesn't_ exist. A pegasus never came crashing through here, okay?"

"No Spike, it's not okay!" Twilight fretted. She had to exist! No, what was she thinking? She _did_ exist! She never even got to say goodbye, or at the very least, leave on a good note with her. She had to find her. But where would she even look? The tower? No, if she was in the tower, Spike wouldn't have denied her existence. Or maybe Rainbow was awaiting her in another room, unbeknown to him? No, that was stupid! Why would she even be 'awaiting' her? She said herself after she left the hospital, that was it. No more seeing one another. So why would Rainbow stop by to see her again? Maybe Rainbow was feeling how she felt now? Like she had unfinished business with the mare? No, what was she thinking? The pegasus would still be too weak to move a feather, much less fly, or walk for that matter.

Then it dawned on her. It all started making sense again! Rainbow finally received treatment at the hospital, while herself, still asleep, must have been brought back to the tower...somehow. How she wound up in front of the window or why Spike was pretending to have never heard of the pegasus before were still a mystery, but insignificant nevertheless. If anything this whole act was the result of some joke Rainbow had taught him. She knew Rainbow was still at the hospital, and that's where she was headed. "I'll be down at the hospital, Spike," she said, leaving her thoughts behind and turning for the exit.

"No Twilight," Spike spoke up, stopping the young mare in her tracks, "what you need to do is rest..." She clearly wasn't well, and the last thing she needed was to be running about town, looking for some imaginary pegasus. "You just had a bad dream..."

"I _wasn't_ asleep!" Twilight hastily shouted back, and before Spike could say another word, angrily stormed out of the room. She wasn't. That didn't make any sense. Why would she have just fallen asleep after sending Spike away and tossing out that scroll? She never even felt tired earlier today, not once! So why would she...? No, it was made clear; she had been brought back to the tower after falling asleep in the lobby with Rainbow. Still, it puzzled her as to how the doctors and staff knew where exactly she lived. Sure they may have had her on file, but... Did Rainbow drop her off? This thought passed through her mind, but unlike others, it stuck. It made sense! If Rainbow had received treatment and healed...really really _really_ quickly, maybe the pegasus had decided to fly her home? Even perhaps told Spike to act as if she never existed? After all, she had told Rainbow she wanted her out of her life. Yeah, it was starting to become clear...sorta. That's what had happened.

Though she'd never admit, it really made little to no sense at all. The idea of any pony healing in a matter of hours was ridiculous. But some of it still made sense, and that was good enough for Twilight. Especially considering the current situation...

She reached the end of the stairs in a matter of seconds it seemed, and with a flare of her horn, opened the door to the rest of Canterlot. She shivered stepping out into the night as she began to tread down the same path as before. _Why is it so cold out?_ she wondered. Despite being late at night, it was still unusually cold out. She glanced up at the sky. _Cloudy too..._ she mused. Shuddering off the cold, she carried on, her thoughts focusing on one thing: seeing _her_ again.

Twilight couldn't help but notice how bare the streets were, compared to earlier when she humiliated herself carrying the injured mare through the streets. But considering the time of day and the current weather, it made sense ponies wouldn't be out and about. Well, all ponies except for odd, obsessive Twilight, wandering the streets of Canterlot in the midst of night, only to say her goodbyes to some stranger, and prove she was right about her not being just a figment of her imagination.

Time flew by as she walked, having been preoccupied by these thoughts, and she now found herself standing before her destination. But something about it seemed...off. _Way_ off... "No," she muttered, "don't tell me..." The building had been partially wrecked, more than likely the result of an explosion of sorts. The building remained dark, and, oddly enough, the place appeared deserted. "She didn't..." She ran over to the entrance, and banged a hoof against the glass. "Hey!" she yelled, to no avail. There had to be someone around who could explain to what in Equestria was going on. Somepony who had witnessed what had happened. But whatever it had been, please don't let it be... "Hey!" she hollered once more into the building. "Hello? Anybody?" No reply. This wasn't happening. Twilight backed down off the door, stomping a hoof into the dirt. "Agh!" she cried out as a single drop of rain splashed down onto her muzzle. How could she let this happen...? Rainbow destroyed it. Rainbow somehow destroyed it, and she was to blame. _She_! Celestia's prized pupil. Just another mare who spent her days undergoing studies in the tower which Celestia had granted her and Spike residence. A mare who never got in anypony's way or caused any trouble, was now responsible for..._that_.

She glanced towards the building once more, not expecting anything new...just taking once last glimpse at what she had caused... But what she did see, nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. She watched as a pony's shadow crept out along the wall of one of the hallways, and worked its way into the lobby. No, it wasn't just any pony! The shadow had wings... _Rainbow?_ Twilight wondered, watching the shadow's movement. Who was she kidding? It had to be! "Rainbow!" she yelled, hoping to grab the pegasus's attention. "It's me, Twilight Spar..." she stopped, as she felt her eyelids rapidly growing heavier. Her vision blurred as she could feel herself becoming light-headed. "Kle..." she nearly finished, as she hit the ground. The last thing she caught sight of was a blue figure walking out from the hallway in which the shadow had first emerged from. Her eyes drifted shut, as she promptly fell asleep in the midst of an oncoming storm...

* * *

"I remember..."

Twilight's eyes blinked open. Her mind was still fuzzy from earlier. _I—went looking for someone..._ She...had gone to find...someone, right? _A pony...it had been a pony I was searching for..._ Her face was burning and her coat was drenched to the core. Not to mention the floor around her had become completely soaked... Wait, floor? Hadn't she been outside? The pitter-patter of rain sounded from outside, along with the occasion burst of thunder. She had been outside...right? All these questions continuously raced through her head. Why was she having trouble remembering? Where in Equestria was she, anyway? She steadily lifted herself off the ground, forearms shaking and head pounding. She gripped her head as she stopped to gain her composure. She took a look around. She was in some sort of achieves room, or something... Shelves of books were lined up against every wall. Was this...her home? She turned and gazed out the window. Heavy rain pounded against the window, making the view outside near impossible to make out.

"Where am I?"

"You don't remember?" an unfamiliar voice spoke to her from behind where she stood. She laughed, "That's funny, 'cause...I do." The unicorn spun looking, searching for the source of the voice. "Over here," the voice spoke up again. Twilight turned and surely enough, another pony sat beside her, staring aimlessly out the window. A pegasus... Cerulean coat, rainbow mane, cyan eyes... She was— Twilight grunted as she felt a sudden pain. She placed both her hooves over her head as the pegasus watched the mare from the corner of her eye. "Hurts to remember, doesn't it?"

"To...remember?" Twilight questioned the rainbow pegasus. What was she talking about? "Who...who are you?"

She laughed again, shaking her head side to side. "That hurts, Sparkles," she said jokingly, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "How could forget little ol' me?"

The window cracked.

"I forgot you...?" What was going on? Who was she? Did she live here? Did she know her somehow? "Just tell me... Who are you...? A-and where am I?"

"Why does your head hurt so much, Sparkles?"

"My...head?" Twilight looked at her funny. What did that have to do who she was or what happened? What did that have to do with anything?

"Here," the pegasus shifted closer, taking hold of her shoulders and urging Twilight to face the window, "you can see your reflection right?" she asked, as the two mares now stared at their reflections. Twilight nodded. "Can you see what's wrong?"

Twilight squinted. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her, other than a rather flushed complexion and soaking wet fur. "I don't see anything..."

"Well duh, that's because your mane is in the way," Rainbow pointed out, brushing her mane upwards so it revealed her horn. "Now tell me."

More cracks formed.

"It's..."

"Broken. Duh." Rainbow brushed her mane down, covering up the shattered remains of her horn.

"But I-I don't understand! How did it—?"

"I remember why I ran away, you know," she said, ignoring Twilight's questions. "I remember now..."

"You...remember?" Twilight shifted a glance at her. Ran away? She...ran away? "Remember what?" Twilight asked, "What does that have to do with _this_?"

"You really don't remember..."

The window broke open, as the storm began pouring into the room.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" The pegasus's voice rose. "You have no idea where we are, what happened earlier...who _I_ am...who _you_ are!" Rainwater drenched the already soaking wet unicorn as she sat there. She didn't know what to say anymore, how to act... "Just forget it, Sparkles!" she shouted as a gust of wind shot into the room, knocking over a bookcase and sending it tumbling into the ground. Loose papers and scrolls were flung across the room. "Sure wish you had wings right about now, huh...?"

_Wings—?_

"Catch ya later, Sparkles," she said, extending her wings and zooming past in a blur, into the sky. Before she could even react herself, was tossed out into the night sky. Her view of the tower became smaller as she now drifted helplessly in the storm. She wriggled about aimlessly, clutching onto empty batches of air, desperate to stop her fall. But she couldn't. There was nothing she _could_ do. She was falling. Falling... And without thinking, she did what anypony would have done. She screamed. Screamed out for help. For someone to swoop down and save her. The chance of that happening was slim, but hey, maybe that pegasus would come back? It's not like she would just let her...

Her mind lingered on that thought, right until her body hit the ground.

* * *

The mare opened her eyes. She was lying on a floor...though it was impossible to tell where she was. Blue and grey-checkered flooring, cloud-like walls and columns lined against the walls... She shook her head as she sat up. A sudden pain struck her body however, causing her to lie back down. In her forearms and legs, head, back...her body began to ache. She plopped her head down on its side, resting it upon one of her forearms. "Mm, must've sprained something..."

"Oh, you're awake?"

"Huh?" She looked up to see a pegasus lying at the end of a nearby bed, overlooking her. Her forearms dangled over the edge as she curiously stared at her 'guest'. "Uh yeah...I guess—"

"You know that was completely _uncool_ what you did," the pegasus went on to say, almost cutting her off before she got the chance to finish.

"What...I did?"

The pegasus tapped a hoof against her forehead. "Look up," she said, pointing directly above the violet mare, "see what you did?"

She did as the pegasus instructed from were she lay, barely tilting her head upwards; but was confused as to what she was supposed to be looking at. A ceiling of...clouds? Large, white, cumulus clouds. The only thing that stuck out to her was an inwards gaping hole that laid between some of the clouds. Sunlight poured in, bathing her in a bright, warming light and lighting up the area around her. "I don't get it..." she replied, bringing her gaze back towards the pegasus. "What did I do?"

She was kidding, right? How naive could one pony be? "See that hole?"

"Yeah—?"

"_You_ caused it," the pegasus explained. She waited for some kind of response from the mare. But nothing came. The pony instead kept staring up at the ceiling, wondering how that was possible, if that were true. If that were true, that would mean she had fell from the sky. But she didn't have wings, or...any way of becoming airborne! So how then did she...?

"You're probably wondering how you, an earth pony, ended up falling from so high up, right?" She didn't give an answer. "Well...I'm not sure myself, but I do know your little stunt created a large hole in my bedroom. Gonna have to waste some time later fixing that, thanks to you."

The pegasus sighed, shaking her head and rolled onto her back, resting her eyes on the floating clouds above. "A hornless, wingless pony...what are the chances?" she asked herself, quietly laughing under her breath. "So," she continued, "what's your name?"

"My name...?"

"Yeah, y'know...name. What other ponies call you. Oh and while we're at it, why not tell me where you're from, and what happened to you?"

What other ponies call me... What other ponies called her. Where she was from. What happened to her... She was supposed to know these things...right? Then how come... "I don't remember..." she whispered under her breath.

"Don't tell me you can't remember. Come on...think!"

Her head hurt too much at the moment to think. "I can't..."

"You really expect me to believe that, eh? Alright..." she said, lifting herself off the bed and into the air with her wings. She flew over to a nearby wall and suddenly sent one of her hooves crashing into one of the clouds. The house shook. "Until you _can_ remember," the pegasus said, "find another pony to waste their time."

The once solid ground started to tear apart, turning to mush under her hooves. "What are you...how can you say that?!" the purple mare yelled, over the noise of the crumbling room. "I'm hurt, I...I can't remember!" she now sputtered, as she could feel her body slipping. The floors had been reduced to mere clouds, and now she was slipping right through. She didn't understand any of this. Why couldn't she remember? She shut her eyes and clenched her teeth, feeling anger build up inside her until she finally yelled, "What is going on?!"

"Don't worry, you fell from the sky once and lived; I'm sure a second time won't hurt ya."

"What—?" She was too busy struggling to stay on solid ground to have noticed the pegasus was no longer in the same space as her. She vanished, as if with the wind. Her forelegs dropped through the clouds, dragging her body down with them. She scrambled to grab onto anything, anything she could hold onto. Something to stop her from falling. But, there wasn't. Sections of the floor fell through the clouds, leaving the mare running out of options. Her body was urging her to let go, despite her mind screaming not to. The last piece of flooring that held her hooves gave way, and...she fell.

But she never touched the ground...

She nervously peeked an eye open. She was back in the tower again...or so she thought. She was overlooking it anyway. Wait...the tower? She could remember it! The Ivory Tower...in Canterlot, where she and Spike resided; it was all coming back! But why did her body feel so stiff...? No...never mind that. Why couldn't she move?

"Twilight...when did you become so soft?"

She heard a voice say. It spoke from below her, though she couldn't see who was talking. Her eyes couldn't move, no, she could only see straight ahead.

"Why do you care...about _her_?" Was the voice talking to her? "She's a stranger...a nuisance... Why are you becoming so attached?"

Was she talking about Rainbow? Suddenly the voice screamed out in fright. And then she felt it. Something pierced her. And she was falling again... Piece by piece she hit the ground...stepped upon by purple hooves. No, her pieces were being swept together. She was being rebuilt...but to no avail. Every sweep scratched her, causing more cracks to form. The pieces split, shattering into millions of tiny, little bits...

* * *

"Hey, Sparkles..." Twilight's eyes groggily opened as she saw a rainbow streak lazily flicking across her face. Whatever it was, it was soft...and scratchy, and ticklish. She brushed it it off her nose, muttering a confused, "What...?" in response. Her whole body was burning and the surface around her head felt completely drenched in sweat. Not to mention her body. Whatever her head was lying on was soft, and warm, almost like...

"Enjoying my flank?"

_Her...flank?_ Twilight rolled onto her stomach, and gazed down on whatever she had been lying on. Blue fur, damp, rainbow lightning bolt— Her head bolted away, realizing she had indeed been lying on her flank.

"Good to see you're finally awake."

"Awake...?" _Awake..._ She glanced around. She was still in the hospital, resting in the same spot as before. Only difference was the room was a bit darker than before and many of the ponies—no, all of the ponies minus her and Rainbow had left. The one mare from earlier wasn't at her post; Twilight took a quick notice of this. Doctors and nurses still filed in and out of the room however, same as before. So...it had all been a dream then...

"Yes, Sparkles. _Awake_. You were asleep," Rainbow explained. "Guess you fell asleep too. Dunno when though, since well, I was asleep. But when I did wake up, imagine my surprise when I find you, fast asleep, and using my flank as a pillow." She grinned, looking down upon her flank. "Slobbered on it, sweated all over it...jeez, and we're not even dating yet."

Same old Rainbow. She turned to Rainbow, still very weary. "I said if you made another joke about that you'd get the horn..."

"Aw what? Even after allowing you to sleep against me?"

That was the pegasus's reasoning for why she shouldn't stab her, huh? Twilight softly smiled at the mare. "Which is why I'll let it slide... Thanks."

"You know you talk a lot in your sleep..." Rainbow said after a few moments, perking Twilight's attention.

_She heard me talking...?_ Twilight thought, now worried over what embarrassing things Rainbow could have possibly heard her say. "What...exactly did you hear?"

"Eh, mostly a bunch of 'nos' and 'whats'..." Rainbow stopped, placing a hoof under her chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, you also mentioned something about missing me? Or that you couldn't find me? Huh, I forget..."

Twilight didn't answer back. She had said those things aloud...? Rainbow had heard her. Heard her muttering lines from her dreams. Stuff about _her_ especially. About missing her, and wanting to find her, and...Celestia knows what else. _Great..._ Twilight mused, letting out a quiet groan.

Rainbow giggled at Twilight's response as she slowly sat up, carefully stretching out her limbs having been curled up in the same position for hours and having one sweaty Twilight Sparkle sleeping on her rear. She glanced up the clock, then into a nearby hall. "I uh, think my turn's coming up," she said to Twilight. "Some doctor-stallion guy notified me earlier," she went on to explain. She figured Twilight may have been a little happy to hear that news. But for some reason, Twilight wasn't.

She couldn't be leaving already... It was too soon. No, what was she thinking? She should be glad the pegasus was finally leaving! That's what she wanted! This was for the best she had told herself. But still... She wasn't even sure whether she wanted the pegasus out of her life or not anymore. Part of her said yes. That she was just some annoyance whom she was never meant to meet and should be forgotten about. There was a tiny part of her however, that disagreed and that said she was something more! For whatever reason, Twilight soon found herself listening to the latter voice.

"Well it's been fun I guess—"

"Rainbow wait!" Twilight interjected, cuing an inquiring look from the rainbow mare. Twilight bit her lip, lowering her head and letting her bangs cover her eyes. She could feel her body growing warmer again. This wasn't going to be easy... "Um..."

"Hm? What is it?"

She scooched closer to the rainbow mare, awkwardly extending a forearm around her shoulder.

Rainbow backed away a bit, a little freaked by her sudden action. "Sparkles...what are you—?"

"Shut up you stupid mare. This...isn't easy for me," she said, setting her other hoof on the mare's foreleg. _Oh what did the book say again...?_ A hug is usually initiated by holding out one's arms and waiting for the other person's response. Right, she was doing that much correctly...sort of. Always respect another person's space. Check. Ask permission before hugging someone, unless you are already on intimate terms with the person. "You're okay with hugs, right?"

"Uh..." What kind of question was that? Was that what she _attempting_ to do? Hug her? "Well um, sure I guess."

Check. Next up. Hug accordingly. Remember, there is a difference between a friendly hug and a passionate embrace. A hug between romantic partners is much different than a hug between two people who have just met. _So make it friendly, Twilight..._ she told herself, moving both of her forearms around the mare's body and gently wrapping both around the pegasus's back, being careful to avoid the wings. Twilight soon found herself lying her head upon the mare's shoulder as well, her mane rubbing into Rainbow's fur. Yeah, _definitely_ not something she ever imagined herself doing...

"You've been a huge, unbelievable pain...but I think I kind of understand what you're going through..." Twilight murmured into the mare's fur. "I get it, and I'm sorry for saying, _anything_ that could be considered hurtful to you."

Rainbow remained silent, allowing Twilight to continue. "I'm not sure if I do want you out of my life anymore, although I still think it'd be for the best..." she continued. "But, if and when things return to normal for you, if you ever wanted to stop by the tower...me and Spike wouldn't mind the company...I guess."

"Twilight..." Rainbow whispered, neither of them realizing she had just said her actual name. "Um, well thanks I guess."

Twilight stifled a sudden tear. Where did that come from? Why was she getting so worked up all of a sudden? She was merely giving her a goodbye hug and making things right between the two. The hug was already lasting longer than the book said a hug should last. Her instincts told her to pull away, but... Her fur; she found it be so soft and warming, and would have liked nothing more than to lay nestled in the pegasus's embrace for a while longer. So she did. Twilight hoped Rainbow wouldn't mind.

"You get this emotional around all the girls?" the pegasus joked, which Twilight responded by lightly jabbing the mare in the shoulder with her horn. "Ow!" Rainbow yelped.

"I warned you not to joke like that..."

"Alright...I suppose I deserved that, sorry." She felt Twilight nod into her fur. Soon she felt Twilight's grip around her tighten as well. "Uh, Sparkles..." It was beginning to hurt a little. Quickly the pain built up and it soon became too much for the young pegasus. "Twilight!"

The unicorn's eyes blinked open as she heard Rainbow's voice calling her name. She quickly lightened her hold on the pegasus, allowing her forearms to fall to her side. "I-I'm sorry, Rainbow...I don't know what came over me."

Rainbow held a hoof over her back, waiting for the pain to subside. "No more hugs for today, alright?" she finally said, followed by a small laugh. "Body hurts too much, you know?"

Twilight blushed, placing both of her forearms behind her back. That wasn't like her. Was it the dreams that brought that on just now? Had they really affected her in such a way? "Yeah...I know," she replied.

A small _ding_ noise sounded throughout the near-empty lobby. "I thinks that means—"

"—that you have to go," she finished, "I get it..." She watched as a stallion entered the lobby, pushing a wheel chair in front of him. She assumed he was here for Rainbow. So, this was it then. It had all gone by so fast...

Apparently Twilight wasn't the only who noticed the stallion's presence. "Looks like my ride's here," Rainbow commented, watching the stallion draw closer.

"You're going to be alright, alone here...right?"

"Yeah, just fine. Don't you worry your pretty little head," she said, playfully patting her on the head.

Twilight shook her hoof away. "Rainbow, please. Don't—" Though before she could say anymore, found herself being cut-off by the stallion.

"Miss...Rainbow? It's time to go."

"Right...I hear ya, doc," she said as she began to stand...only to fall upon her knees. "Just like before, huh Sparkles?" she joked, turning to her and asking, "Mind giving me a hand here?"

Twilight sighed, then lit her horn as she encased the mare's body in a violet aura and lifted her off the bench and into the chair. "Is that all?" she asked, "Don't need to me to take you for a walk, or give you a belly rub?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Oh, am I your pet now or something?" she surmised. Twilight giggled in response, though quickly stifled by her hoof.

"Maybe," Twilight replied, "although you are a bit disobedient..."

Since when did she develop a sense of wit? "Funny, Sparkles," she said, lying back in the chair. "Well anyway, maybe some other time...not really the place or time, huh?"

"Yeah," she agreed, "some other time then."

Rainbow nodded and soon she was turned away from Twilight and being wheeled away. Before leaving however, as if she forgot something important, turned and looked over her seat, back at the mare. "Oh, and Sparkles! Think you could say goodbye to Spike for me?"

_Spike...?_ "Oh um...sure thing!" Twilight assured her, making a mental note to do that later. "Well, try and get better soon. I'll be seeing—" Twilight paused mid-sentence with her goodbye. She looked around, having been paying little attention while talking. Rainbow had disappeared from sight.

"Bye..." she muttered under her breath.

Twilight sighed, finding herself all alone once more. She was gone. Gone... Her eyes gazed around the room. There was no point in her hanging out here anymore. She had overstayed anyway. Thinking back, she had told Spike she wouldn't be long...

So I left...and headed back to the tower under the setting sun. I found that I was having more than a tough enough time removing the mare from my thoughts. The journey home went by like nothing, and before I knew I found myself standing before the tower's entrance. Back to life as usual I thought. I began my descent up the stairs as my thoughts kept lingering on the rainbow mare. I couldn't tell you how many times I stopped and thought of perhaps going back to check up on her. Actually...eighty-seven times. In other words, the number of stairs in the staircase. With every step I took, I stopped and debated this. But I kept going, until at last I reached the study. Everything was the way I had left it before leaving. Everything neat and orderly, floors barren and window pieced together by bits of magic. The only thing missing from the scene was Spike, though I assumed he was off working in a different part of the tower or in our room keeping himself occupied somehow. I'd check on him later; first I had to decide what to do. Normally, if my chores were finished and there was nothing more to do, I'd resume my studying. But today had been anything _but_ normal. I don't think I could've concentrated anyway; my mind was still too focused on her...

I found myself pacing around the room, through the halls, the kitchen, dining room, den, bedroom... Desperate to find something to distract my mind from thoughts of _her_. But it was hopeless. She was the only thing on my mind... As I had assumed, Spike had settled down in our room and was rather surprised to have seen me come in. We talked for a bit, and delivered Rainbow's message as promised. As I was lying on my bed, bored out of my mind and wishing that perhaps another pegasus would come crashing through my window...Spike suggested I try writing about all this. That way I'd be doing something productive that still involved her, and that it'd might help clear my mind in the process.

That...actually wasn't a half bad idea. Twilight leaned up from her star-covered bedspread, giving the idea of writing about her experience some more thought. Writing about her day, about the pegasus, and the dreams! But would she keep these to herself? She almost wanted to share this with someone... To let others know what she went through today. Someone, whom she could talk to about all this...

"You know, maybe the Princess would be interested in your letters..." Spike suggested. A light bulb went off inside the young mare's head. "She is your teacher after all—"

"I'll be right back, Spike!" she said, leaping from her bed and darting out the room. That was brilliant! Tell the Princess! Why had she never thought of that before? She skidded to a stop, having reached her study and ran over to her desk on the far side of the room. Stifling the urge to grin, she grabbed a fresh scroll and quill pen and began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia—

Twilight paused, thinking over what to write next. This was her teacher she was writing to. She shouldn't make it too personal, but it's not like it was an assignment or anything. No, never mind that. How was she even supposed to begin this thing? She slouched her body further against her desk as her head rested against one of her hooves. She wasn't exactly used to writing letters. Only essays, reports, analytic briefs... _It's just a letter, Twilight..._ she assured herself, hoping to calm her nerves. _Just be honest. Explain what happened, the events, how I felt..._

She took a deep breath, and began to write again.

It's almost kind of funny really. Funny how one moment I'm going about my usual business in my study, the next, _she_ crashes through my window. I couldn't believe it at first myself. After all, what pegasus just goes and crashes into somepony's home? Certainly not the ones I read about in my books. Well, after repairing any damage done to the room and carefully examining my bookcases and looking ever-so closely for any damage done to the books, I insisted she go to the hospital. She refused of course, insisting she was fine. Stubborn pegasus. I refused to believe she was anything _but_ fine. Eventually I got her to go, though honestly, I couldn't have cared whether she had or not. Never did care much for the company of others, but the fact remained I couldn't just leave her there, injured on my floor. If anything, she would have distracted me from my studies.

Twilight stopped again, looking over what she had jotted down. Sure she was being honest, but... She couldn't help but feel the letter made her sound...a bit cruel. Oh how she hoped Celestia wouldn't think badly of her...

During our short time together, I learned she had apparently lost much of her memory...and as I accompanied her to the hospital, little by little, I started to believe she had. I figured nopony would go through such lengths to fake such a thing—

She paused as a sudden _thump_ sounded in the distance. Her head glanced up from the paper before her as she looked around, searching for the source of the noise. "What was...?" It had come from within the tower...somewhere. But it couldn't have come from the room she was in, no... She set down her quill as she went to investigate.

Room after room, nothing. She stopped by hers and Spike's bedroom. "Spike...?" she called into the room, now standing at the entrance. Was it him who had caused that noise? Or if anything, he may have had some sort of clue as to what _did_ cause it.

"Oh, Twilight?" Spike turned to see her by the entrance. "Back already?"

"No, not exactly," she replied, not focusing on Spike too much but rather where the source of the sound came from. Nothing seemed broken or out of place. "Uh you didn't hear a loud thump-like noise just now, did you?"

Spike thought about it, then answered, "Well I think I heard something, though I wasn't really paying attention... It sounded pretty far away though, like it came from outside or something. Maybe on the balcony—?" he suggested. And before he knew it, the unicorn had vanished with the wind as she resumed her search, having been given an idea as to where to search next.

_The balcony, of course!_ Twilight thought as she trotted down the hall. The one place she had yet to check, and it _did_ lead outside... In no time she reached the archway; sunlight pouring in and almost blinding the mare as she approached it. Though she was able to make out something which stood out to her. Something that looked...almost like the silhouette of a pony standing outside. It wasn't... It couldn't be... _Rainbow?!_ Was she dreaming again?

No she was certain this wasn't another dream. She stood outside, though appeared different than before. She wore hospital garb over her body and had multiple white bandages wrapped around her forearms and forelegs, forehead, wings... Did she already check out? No, that didn't make sense...it had only been a couple of hours...

"Sparkles...?" Rainbow questioned, now noticing the purple unicorn standing a mere feet away. At least she thought it was Twilight. All she could see was a blurred purple blob before her. She grasped her head, "I feel dizzy...I gotta...gonna to—" Her eyes rolled upwards as her forelegs wobbled and began to fall.

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out. She didn't waste any time thinking about what to do next. Twilight galloped over to her position, diving onto the ground and just nearly catching the mare in her hooves before she hit the ground. That had been a little too close...

She lied there beside her on the ground, outside against the setting sun; now with a mindful of questions. Most importantly, what was she even doing here? It was clear she had received some treatment, but... Why wasn't she still there? How did she even get here on her own? She ran a hoof through her shaggy mane, which then proceeded to travel down her back. She repeated this motion a few times, hoping it would help...somehow. The pegasus's breathing had deepened and Twilight could feel her heart practically beating out of her chest. She didn't come here on her own, did she?

Twilight let out a deep breath as she adjusted herself off the ground until she was sitting upright, keeping the pegasus in her forearms. "I got you..." she assured.

Rainbow barely shifted a glance up at Twilight, wearily replying, "You know you didn't have to do that...It's not like another fall would have hurt, or anything."

Twilight rolled her eyes, shifting a small smile down at the pegasus. "I know I didn't," she replied. "I guess my body decided to act on its own again."

Rainbow chuckled softly. "I guess both of ours did."

"Why are you here...?" Twilight finally decided to ask. "I see you received some treatment but..."

"Because Sparkles," she began, "I couldn't stand it there! Ponies constantly asking me things I didn't know, running a bunch of tests on me, making me lie in bed, but above all that, it was just...so boring!"

_So basically what every patient experiences during their stay at a hospital..._ Twilight thought.

"So the second I got the chance, I snuck my way out and flew back here," she explained, though not without leaving Twilight with a multitude of questions. For starters, how did she even manage to fly?

"Man, am I tired..." Rainbow spoke up, disrupting Twilight's train of thoughts. "Any chance of you perhaps, allowing me to stay the night?"

_Stay...the night? That actually...doesn't sound half bad—_ No, what was she thinking? "You need to go back! Celestia only knows what kind of trouble you've caused over there!"

"I don't care, Sparkles. I'm _not_ going back." Her mind was made up. Twilight could plainly see this and insisting she go would be pointless. It was getting late anyway, and taking her back now certainly wouldn't strengthen their relationship in any way. Twilight sighed. _Stubborn pegasus..._

"Fine," she said, "fine, you can stay." She placed a hoof over the pegasus's mouth though, before she could say anything, adding, "Only for tonight though, understand?" She knew Rainbow wouldn't want to hear this... "You'll be going back tomorrow—"

"No way, Sparkles," Rainbow insisted. "I'm not going back there."

"But you have to! You're still hurt!"

"Then I'll stay here and you can heal me..." Rainbow replied. Twilight had to know some spell that could do the job. "Besides, docs say I do have a case of...uh...am-net...chia? Think that's right..."

"No Rainbow, it's not," Twilight pointed out. She assumed it had been amnesia that she had, rather poorly, attempted to pronounce. "It's _amnesia_," she corrected. Great, she really _had_ lost her memory...

"Right, well since this is the place I gained it, maybe hangin' around here will help trigger some of those memories I lost."

"That's—!" Twilight paused. "Not that bad of an idea..." But her body however... "I'm sorry but neither my magic nor this tower can help your physical injuries. You'll have to go back..."

The pegasus groaned. "You _can't_ be serious..."

"Oh but I am," she stated. "But to make sure you don't fly off again..." She would so regret saying this. This would so mess up her schedule for days to come. "I'll stay with you, by your side, until you heal...okay?"

Rainbow's eyes lit up. She stared up at the unicorn in disbelief. Had she heard that right, just now? "_You_?" She still couldn't believe, Twilight of all ponies, just said she'd stay with her. "You'll...stay by my side—?"

She quickly cut-in, placing a hoof over her mouth once more. "_Only_ until you leave there, understand?" She smiled down at the pegasus. "So...that way you won't be alone, or bored out of your mind, okay?"

"Sure, I guess," Rainbow replied, though holding back the urge to grin as her gaze returned back to the ground.

"Great! Good to see you being cooperative," she said, loosening her grip around Rainbow as she started to get up. "Now if you would just follow me—" Oh, what was she saying? She hit her forehead with one of her hooves. _She can barely move, Twilight..._ she reminded herself. She enveloped the mare's body in a violet light, triggering the same ticklish laughter same as every other time she'd lift her with her magic.

"Oh," Twilight said, remembering there was one more thing she wanted to address, "if you're going to stay here, you have to start addressing me by my real name, which by the way is Twilight, if you already forgot."

"Aw, but Sparkles is—"

"—is stupid." she interjected. "If you insist on using a nickname, at least think up something better than...'Sparkles'."

"It's stupid, huh? Alright...a new name for Twilight, let's see..." She thought on it for a moment. How hard could it be to come up with a name? "Twilight...Twilight, Twily, Twiller, Twix, Twi—" That was it.

Twilight glanced back at the mare, having listened to her rambling a number of possible names and asked, "Having fun back there?"

She smiled down at the unicorn. "Aren't I always, Twi?"

So that was the name she had chosen. Twi... Better than 'Sparkles' I suppose. I explained the situation to Spike and allowed her a space in our room. Some newspapers and a sheet or two was all I could give her in terms of a bed on such short notice. My bed was the only in the tower, and there was no way I was sharing one with _her_. And with that settled, I went to resume my work for the night.

With one last candle lighting the room, she resumed work on her letter.

Well I was right of course, as it was soon discovered she had somehow gained amnesia. Now I'm stuck watching over her while she regains her memory...who knows how long that'll take...

She paused, thinking about what she had just written. She seemed to be rushing it a bit, skipping over much of what had happened.

But it seems I'm getting a little carried away here. Let me start again from the beginning. It was an average, sunny morning in Canterlot. Ponies were going on with their usual daily routine, as was I, until...well, you know the rest...

And with that, she continued her letter, detailing the times she first laid eyes on her, when the two met, coming up with a name, taking her to the hospital and what happened there, her trip home, meeting Rainbow again...

She looked over her work. Not half bad. A bit long, but a lot of things had happened today! Now all it needed was a conclusion. Twilight yawned. She was too tired to focus on writing an ending. No, what she had was fine. It was only a letter after all. Instead she signed but a few mere words at the bottom of the page.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

With a satisfied smile, she rolled up the scroll, and placed it in the middle of her desk. A good as any place for it...it would catch her eye anyway, suppose she ever forgot about it. Not like that would ever happen though, she'd have Spike send it tomorrow, before the two left for the hospital.

"Hey Twi! What's taking ya?" she heard Rainbow call outwards from the other room. "C'mon, I'll let ya sleep on my flank some more if you want."

_Her flank...?_ Oh she did not just say that with Spike in the room. Great, now she'd have to explain that to Spike. She yawned again. Not today, though. Besides, Twilight had a feeling things wouldn't be returning to normality for days to come...

* * *

22,000+ words? You'd think such a large amount of words would be a bit much for a single chapter (and it is), but I wanted all of these events to unfold in the first chapter. So that's the tale so far. Like it? Suggestions? If so, please leave a comment below.

May 30th edit: It's no longer on hiatus! (ノ^_^)ノ


	2. Chapter 2

I think I've kept everyone waiting long enough; ≧o≦ here's chapter two.

* * *

-Chapter 2-

In some ways, it felt like it never happened. After all, some pegasus falling into her home, without a care in the world, apathetic to all that had happened around her...it had all felt so...surreal. So dreamlike.

And she wanted to believe it had been just that. A dream brought on by after a seemingly endless, and rather uneventful slumber; but in the end, something had to cause that night of unrest...and that something was currently curled up, peacefully snoring while lying on the floor at the end of her bed.

As unrealistic as it seemed, there was no doubt in her mind Rainbow was real, that she had indeed been flung into her life from..._wherever_ it was she had come from; and today was the first of many she'd be spending with her new-found pegasus acquaintance. _After_ catching a few more Zs before starting said day, that is. After all, wasting it away at some hospital with some pegasus wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to...

Twilight rolled over in her sleep, letting out quiet murmurs and kicking away the sheets that covered her body as she lay flat on her stomach, fast asleep with her head buried deep in her pillows. The curtains above her bed blew slightly from a rush of wind through her open window; the sound of birds chirping and singing their morning songs signaling the approaching dawn.

And soon, the sun began to rise; sunlight beaming in through the curtains onto the pillows where Twilight's head lay. It was then that she began to wake...immediately feeling her body dampened with sweat. Her eyes fluttered open, staring wide-eyed into the darkness her face was buried in.

_A dream... It...it was only a dream..._ she repeated in silent thought, lying still and taking a few breaths as she worked to convince herself it really had all been just a dream.

_But similar to the one I experienced yesterday..._ While it may had changed slightly, the basic string of events remained the same. Twilight lay still allowing the fact to sink in, and the darkened realization the dream she experienced yesterday at the hospital wouldn't be a one-time occurrence. But what was the point of these dreams? To put herself in Rainbow's position? To make her see things the way Rainbow did? She grumbled into her pillow; it was pointless to try and figure something like this out. At this time of day anyway. Instead, seeing as how no one else seemed to be awake at the moment and how she could still use some sleep herself, flared her horn and using her magic to shut the curtains, blanketed the room in darkness. _A few more minutes..._ she thought, reaching for and pulling the comforter over her head. She closed her eyes, letting out a brief yawn and snuggling deep beneath the covers, ready for another minute or two of rest—

"Oh, Twi! Hey!" a sudden voice spoke up from somewhere within the bedroom. "You're awake?"

The sudden voice startled her, triggering a slight jump from the young unicorn. It seemed she wasn't the only one awake. She realized closing the curtains just then must have alerted someone in the room...and considering the only ones in the room besides herself were Spike and Rainbow, and the voice she just heard, she assumed it was the latter.

Before she had the chance to properly react, Twilight felt something land on the end of her bed, pressing down on her sprawled-out forelegs in the process. Her eyes blinked open, grumbling under her breath. _So much for a few extra minutes..._ She sighed, waving any hopes of her sleeping in goodbye, as the voice spoke up again.

"Twi...?" That was definitely Rainbow's voice alright. She felt one of her hooves now softly poking her in the shoulder. "Hello? You alive under there?"

"Rainbow...?" Twilight said, deciding to give a reply. She assumed it was still early—given the sudden beam of sunlight from moments ago which she had been quick to cover up. Still, she had to be certain. "Mm, What time is it...?" she asked, letting out a silent yawn.

"The time...?" she wondered. "Well..." Her eyes searched the room, looking for something that could provide a clue before turning back to the unicorn. "How should I know?" she replied, then redirected her attention to sun-soaked curtains. "Well I know it's sunny out if that helps..."

Twilight gave a brief sigh of annoyance as she assumed it was true what she had read about pegasi: they were always up at the crack of dawn. Why that rule only applied to pegasi, she couldn't say. Either that, or Rainbow had decided against getting any sleep. Or using her magic really _had_ woke her up.

Or maybe it was none of that and she was simply over thinking things again.

"I know it is. And no Rainbow, that really doesn't help," Twilight informed her, returning from her thoughts and rolling her eyes. "You know we have a clock, right?"

"A clock?" Rainbow questioned.

Twilight mentally slapped her forehead. "It's a white, circular object, has twelve numbers labeled on the inside, makes a sort of ticking noise—"

"No no, I mean, I _know_ what a clock is," Rainbow replied, putting an end to Twilight's theory just then about not knowing what one was. Though, if she really hadn't known, it wouldn't have surprised her. After all, this was the same pegasus who either forgot or hadn't known what a tower, hospital or bits were...

"I just don't see one anywhere around here."

_Didn't see one?_ Twilight thought over Rainbow's words, and for a second, believed Rainbow must have gone blind as well. It shouldn't have been all that hard to spot... "Did you try looking up?"

_Up...?_ Rainbow titled her head upwards, and sure enough noted one hung above the bed. "Oh now I—" She paused, realizing just what an odd place that was to hang a clock. "Wait, why do you keep a clock right above your bed?"

"It's not like I had a choice, Rainbow...I don't exactly have a lot of wall space to hang stuff."

"Well maybe if you got rid of some of these bookshelves..." Rainbow mused at a whisper, taking note of just how clustered the room was. Mainly shelves cramped with more books occupied the walls, while Spike's bed remained nestled in a corner by the entrance. The dragon himself was curled up under the sheets of his own bed, sleeping soundly.

"So anyway," Twilight continued, "what does it say?"

Rainbow glanced back at the unicorn with a look of confusion. Why she didn't just get up and check for herself was one thing, but... "Right, uh well...the short hand-thingy is a little past the six and—"

"Six?!" Twilight jumped out from under the covers and nearly tripped over her own hooves stepping off the bed. She took a quick look at the clock for herself and sure enough, as Rainbow had already explained, it was already well past six a.m.. "Oh no, no no no no no, no no! This is bad, this is very bad!"

Rainbow watched as Twilight stomped her hooves in short, jittery movements while looking about nervously with eyes wide...and other than the small grin she attempted to hide behind her hoof, all Rainbow could question at that moment was what had caused this sudden behavior. It wasn't the first time she had seen Twilight stress over something, but it _was_ the first time she had seen her panic in such a way.

"Bad? Why? What's—?" she tried to ask before being cut off by Twilight.

She stopped long enough to explain, "What's 'bad' is that I have to lug you back to the hospital today and I'd rather not do so with others around!" Twilight explained, raising her voice, and unintentionally waking up Spike in the process. Though taking quick note of Twilight losing her cool for the millionth time and yelling at Rainbow over...Celestia only knew what, Spike instead sunk back in his bed, not wanting anything to do with their pointless squabbling...

Though thinking it over, Twilight realized perhaps she may had exaggerated, but she'd be lying if she had said she hadn't been the least bit embarrassed during yesterday's events. It was because of that, she had hoped to to get an early start and leave before other ponies started their day. Well, she had hoped anyway... Seeing as how it was already past six, it was unlikely the streets were still barren...

"So...that's all?" Rainbow queried. Leaving early so they wouldn't be spotted by other ponies wandering the streets? _That's what she's worried about? _Rainbow couldn't help but laugh a little._  
_

"Yes—er I mean no, I—! It's not funny!" Twilight let out another one of her usual groans before pausing and taking notice of the pegasus seated on the edge of her bed, still sporting her bandages, though she had scrapped her hospital garb as she noticed it lying alongside the papers on the floor. "How...how did you even get up there, anyway?"

"It's a _bed_, Twi," she said. A bed no more than a couple feet off the floor. "I climbed up."

"In your condition? There's no way somepony like yourself was...was able to..." Twilight's voice quickly drifted off as she immediately became aware of what she was saying. _Saying this to the same pegasus who somehow escaped a Canterlot hospital while injured_, _then proceeded to fly back here solely by herself..._

As Twilight fell into silence, Rainbow began suspecting her and Twilight were thinking the same thing. "It's a pain in the flank to do so Twi, but I can still move about you know," Rainbow told her, who was now staring back at her—seemingly in disbelief—but also with a look as if she were urging her to continue. "I uh, guess the docs fixed me up pretty good...feels like I can actually move around now," she explained as she stood on all fours for a matter of seconds, extending and wriggling her hooves about one after the other out in differing directions as proof.

"See—?" She winced, and fell flat on the bed once more, cuing an inquisitive look from the unicorn. Twilight narrowed her eyes, unconvinced by the act. Though, she supposed if it were true, it would have explained how Rainbow had managed to fly back to the tower on her own. If it were true.

"Okay," Rainbow said after a few moments of lying still, allowing the pain to die down. "So maybe my body still hurts, but the pain isn't near as intense as it was yesterday."

"That may be, but that doesn't mean you should move around and— Oh Celestia what am I doing?" She paused long enough to focus her magic on the pegasus, lifting her from her seat on the bed and back on the floor, upon the wadded papers and scrunched up sheets which Twilight had provided her the night before. She then began work on straightening her bed up, taking everything off and dumping it beside her before rummaging through the pile and pulling out the correct layers in order and lacing them across the bed, all without lifting a hoof.

"Hey uh, do you ever _not_ use your magic?" Rainbow asked, watching the violet mare make quick work of her bed. Not that there was anything wrong with manipulating magic for such a task—she _was_ a unicorn after all. Magic was their specialty. But using it almost non-stop and when she just as easily could have used her hooves to arrange the sheets on her bed instead of magical powers seemed like a waste to the pegasus. Not to mention, lazy.

"Well it sure beats using your hooves," she replied, laying the comforter on top the stack of sheets and blankets.

"Yeah, well maybe, but still..."

"Look, we can discuss this later..." Twilight said, fluffing the few pillows she owned and placing them at the end of her bed. "But right now I don't have time to waste chatting with you. Okay uhm, let's see..." She trotted over to a vanity with a mirror she had conveniently set up between two bookcases. "First my mane! Let's just take a look and uh, oh..." Her sudden gleeful expression turned into a frown as she noticed the condition her mane was is. She turned to Rainbow, "Why didn't you mention my mane looked like _this_?"

"I was supposed to?"

"Ugh! Never mind!" She turned as she continued to mumble under her breath. "Brushing it will only make it look worse... Great, looks like I'll have to wash it." With that thought in mind, she remembered the previous day and her unintentionally sneezing on Rainbow, and getting snot caught in her own fur as well. She brushed a quick hoof through the spot on her coat where she had originally wiped her hoof._ Still crusty as ever..._ she thought before glancing over at the pegasus. _I suppose her coat's no less filthy than mine..._

"Hey, Rainbow," Twilight called out to her. They were pressed for time as is, and it was clear Rainbow could use one... "Would you like to join me?"

"Join you? Join you in doing _what_, exactly?"

"Oh well I was planning on showering, and you're welcome to join in too, if you want—"

_I'm welcome to join, if I...?_ Rainbow stared at her, wide-eyed in astonishment. "Hold up hold up, Twi...you serious?" There was no mistaking it. She had heard right, but...this was Twilight. There was no way someone like her would ever suggest such a thing... Well, until she proved otherwise with a simple 'yes.'

"I'm sorry, Twi. I mean, I get it; you think I'm attractive," Rainbow teased, only to receive an unamused glare from the unicorn. "But," Rainbow soon continued as she grew more serious in tone. "Do I need one? Probably...but with you? No no, nuh-uh. Sorry Twi, but the answer is definitely _no_. I'll just wait here until you're finished."

Twilight sighed, having expected such a response...and would have left it at that. She wasn't looking forward to this anymore than Rainbow, but time was a factor. "Sorry Rainbow, I know I asked whether or not you'd like to, but you don't have much of a choice. We're on a tight enough schedule as is, and need to leave as soon as possible, so excuse me for this but we really don't have time for both of us to take separate showers."

Before Rainbow could argue with her, Twilight caught the mare in an aura of magic and lifted the pegasus up into the air. Hearing a faint groan escape the pegasus, she added, "Look, I'm not exactly keen on this either, but it saves us time. Besides, there's no way you could manage to wash yourself in your current condition."

"Hey, you don't know that!" Without thinking, Rainbow shot back at the unicorn in her defense, resulting in Twilight coming to an abrupt stop. The two remained silent, completely motionless for some time—Twilight seemingly still shocked over Rainbow's sudden outburst, and why Rainbow would insist on something so insignificant...other than proving her condition really had improved.

Or it was simply Rainbow being her usual, overconfident self again.

Several long moments passed before it dawned on Rainbow what it was she had even blurted out, and she soon regretted saying anything at all. Twilight would never buy into what she said. Hay, she herself knew that wasn't true; she could barely move about, much less manage a proper shower.

Rainbow sighed, knowing it was impossible without Twilight's assistance, and that things would go a lot whole smoother if she simply went along with what Twilight suggested. She looked over at the unicorn, who remained completely still and at a glance, was at a loss of words.

"Alright Twi, fine. I'll let you this _one_ time," Rainbow finally spoke, breaking the momentary silence, as well as bringing Twilight out of her thoughts. Before Twilight could get a word in however, there was one thing Rainbow had to make clear...even if it wasn't exactly true. "I'm pretty sure I could..." she muttered out in a softer tone of voice, looking away once she noticed Twilight had turned to face her; her gaze now firmly fixed on the pegasus. "Shower on my own, I mean."

At first it was a look of curiosity. _She's going to keep insisting on this, isn't she?_ Twilight asked herself, though it hadn't taken long for her mind to come up with an answer, and dismissed her curiosity as quickly as it came. After all, this was Rainbow she was dealing with. Anything she said or did that Twilight didn't understand—and there was quite a lot—she would simply chalk it up as Rainbow being...well, Rainbow.

Instead, Twilight smiled, simply shaking her head and finding it hard not to grin at the pegasus's behavior. "Come on, Rainbow," she said with with a small grin, rolling her eyes and turning around as she headed out the bedroom, and carrying the reluctant pegasus along against her will.

* * *

Trotting down the hall, she headed for the the nearest bathroom she could think of, and with a few more hoofsteps, she was there. Wasting no time, Twilight pushed the door open and stepped inside, getting straight to work. She gently set Rainbow down in the tub, before then turning to mess with the array of knobs, twisting the one furthest from her and in turn, activating the flow of water...only for Rainbow to let out a startled shriek once the near-scalding water splashed down against her coat.

"Sorry!" Twilight apologized, frantically working the other knobs in an attempt to adjust the water temperature. With a few twists and turns, she quickly got the water under control and sighed in relief, turning to check on the now dripping-wet mare who appeared to be slowly recovering from the seemingly painful incident. "Is that better?"

"Uh-huh..." Rainbow replied sorely, after a few moments of allowing her body to adjust to the sudden change. Though it was hard to adjust when a stinging sensation now filled her body; not helped by the resentment she held towards Twilight for that blast of hot water mere moments ago, and—and...

_This feels nice..._ she thought as her mind went blank, closing her eyes and sighing contently. Any negative thoughts she had at that moment were washed away as the warm water washed over her body, relaxing her muscles and allowing her mind to enter a state of surrender.

It felt like her first shower in ages—hay, maybe even her first shower, period. ...Rainbow quickly dismissed the latter thought. She was certain she had taken showers in the past. She wasn't _that_ unruly...

Though she hadn't been lying when she thought of it as her first in ages; it really felt as though she hadn't showered for the longest time. Or at least, not like this. It felt rejuvenating; all her pain seemed to vanish as the water swept it away. She tilted her head upwards, allowing some of the water to fall upon her face and parted her lips slightly, catching some of it in her mouth.

It was warm, sure, but she sort of liked the taste of it. And hay, even if she hadn't, she had been in desperate need of a drink since yesterday anyway—oh, and a bite to eat. Thinking back, she never had gotten a proper meal...

Her drink was cut short however, as Twilight decided to step in, sitting herself down in front of Rainbow. Right, she had forgotten Twilight was with her...

* * *

Twilight sat back on her haunches in a similar fashion, sitting opposite of the rainbow pegasus, and closing the curtain around them...when it hit her. She was actually doing this... About to bathe with some pegasus— No, what was she thinking? It wasn't some pegasus; it was Rainbow.

To make matters worse, she was a mare. Tomboyish, but nevertheless, a mare. Around the same age as herself, no less.

She recalled times where she used to give Spike a bath, back when was either too young or incapable of doing it himself. But those times were different. Spike was practically family to her, and to her, it was like somepony giving their kid brother a bath. Back then, neither of them thought anything of it, or cared for that matter. But now, Twilight did. Things were different. She was older, and so was the pony before her...

That desperately needed a good cleaning.

Twilight sighed. It looked like there was no getting around this. They both were in desperate need of a shower, and there was no way Rainbow could manage one herself without her help. Then there were the time restraints, and even if it was...uncomfortable for her, she would have to pull through. It seemed a little late to have second thoughts anyway.

"Alright," Twilight grumbled, turning to face Rainbow, "let's get this over wi—" Her voice paused. Since stepping into the tub, she had kept her gaze focused elsewhere, averting her own gaze to the shower curtains. Turning to face her however, for the first time since preparing the shower, Twilight took quick notice of the way Rainbow looked.

It amazed her. The innocent, almost naive look Rainbow wore... Her flustered cheeks, patted-down fur and wet mane, motionless beads of water glistening along her face and forearms. She was lean, yet firm, with trim muscles that rose with each breath she took. In a way it surprised her. She never would have thought Rainbow was an athletic pony. She looked so... Twilight rid herself of these thoughts. _Wet,_ she thought. _She looks wet._ Nothing more, nothing less...and certainly nothing worth staring at her over—

Twilight shook her head, only now realizing she had been staring at her, and mentally slapped herself over the fact. Staring...at _Rainbow_. She prayed to Celestia Rainbow hadn't noticed.

"Uh, Twi...?" Rainbow began, wondering why exactly Twilight hadn't bothered to move a muscle since entering. She cocked her head, "You—?" However Twilight already had an idea as to what she was about to say, and was quick to deny it.

"I wasn't staring!" she blurted out, cheeks burning bright, and cuing a questioning look from Rainbow. An awkward silence soon followed.

"Never said you were," Rainbow replied after the momentary silence. "I was just gonna ask if you were okay, is all."

More silence ensued.

_That's all she was going to ask?_ Twilight thought, suddenly feeling fooling for jumping to such a conclusion. Even worse, now Rainbow _knew_ she had been staring. Her widened eyes began to narrow, letting out an irritated sigh before grumbling, "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

"So if you'll just let me— Argh, stop squirming!" Twilight said, making another attempt at cleaning the pegasus's fur only for her to retract away. "If you would just sit still long enough for me to clean your coat..."

"Well maybe I would if you'd quit scrubbing so hard!" Rainbow was quick to protest, shoving away Twilight's hoof, which she now had a cloth wrapped around, using it to make cleaning Rainbow's fur all the easier.

"Hard? I'm sorry but I'm doing this as gently as I possibly can," she replied, taking a firm hold of the pegasus with her hooves and then proceeding to wash every inch of the cerulean mare, much to Rainbow's displeasure.

Rainbow shut her eyes, letting out another grunt as the unicorn worked at cleaning her fur. "You—ah, you seriously call what you're doing, _gentle_?"

"As a matter of fact I do. Now please..." Her voice drifted, taking hold of Rainbow's face and began scrubbing away at the pegasus's facial features, washing away areas of drool that had dried around her lips—presumably from the night before—or stains of dirt hidden beneath her mane and layers of fur. "There," Twilight said satisfied as she backed away and wrung the cloth out with her magic.

With that, Rainbow gently shook her fur dry, coating the surrounding walls and tiles with a flurry of water droplets as she opened her eyes. "So what...? Are we done?" she asked. Oh how she hoped they were done...

"Far from it, actually," Twilight said, causing Rainbow to droop her head in response. "Let me see your ears."

Rainbow's head shot back up, her ears falling flat. "My...ears?"

"Yes," Twilight replied, "now hold still..." She leaned up, and placing a forearm over Rainbow's head as if it were an armrest for support, began cleaning in and around Rainbow's ears and down her neck, only stopping every now and then to make sure her actions weren't causing the pegasus any pain. "Uhm, nothing's hurting, is it?"

"Twi, it's fine," Rainbow lied. The annoyance of Twilight's upper chest fur brushing against her face and the rest of the unicorn's body practically resting over her head was becoming a tad too much for the young pegasus to bare. Then again, her fur...it was soft, and warm, pressed against her own— She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind the second she felt her wings stiffen. "Just please hurry it up, will ya—?"

"All done," Twilight said, stepping down and away from the pegasus.

"Wha...?" Rainbow said, almost baffled by how quickly Twilight had finished up. "Already?"

"Well uh, yes...I _was_ only washing your ears and around your shoulder line, after all."

Rainbow felt her cheeks grow warmer. "Uh right, I knew that..." she replied, looking off to the side. "So...now are we done?"

"Not quite," Twilight said only to have Rainbow roll her eyes back at her. She pointed a hoof at Rainbow's wings. "There's still the matter of your wings—oh, and your back."

"M-my what now?" Rainbow panicked, remembering the state of her wings. "N-no! Sorry Twi but those areas you mentioned, they're uh...in way too much pain..."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? You don't sound sure..."

"No no, I'm sure. Believe me, if you were to apply pressure there, I'd imagine it would hurt pret-ty bad." She demonstrated, touching her left wing with her hoof and wincing as a result. "Ooh, uh yeah, ow... That hurts alright." Well she wasn't _completely_ lying, they were still in pain.

Twilight tilted her head to the side, replying, "Okay...?"no less confused than before.

"I'd say I'm already mighty clean anyway!" Rainbow beamed, hoping to change the subject. "Now, forget about me. Focus on getting yourself cleaned up."

"Well, uhm...alright... Oh, but first!" Twilight turned to her side, rummaging through, then grabbing two different containers from a shower rack with her magic and popped one of the lids. "A bit of shampoo and body wash never hurt anypony! Here, I'll apply some..." she said, squeezing a small of amount out onto her hoof before working it into Rainbow's fur, then turned her attention to her own coat once she was finished with Rainbow's.

"Think they'll be mad—?"

"Hold still, please," she told Rainbow as she squeezed a second substance out onto her hooves and began working it into Rainbow's mane. "Now I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Those doctor ponies... Do you think they'll be mad? About what I did?"

Twilight stifled the sudden urge to laugh. "Oh no, Rainbow, not in the slightest!" she said sarcastically, scooting aside and allowing the stream of water to freely wash over Rainbow's mane. "Why I'm sure they were thrilled to discover you had gone missing last night and have been spending the entire night here instead."

She closed her eyes as bits of shampoo began to drip from mane and trickle down her face. "Okay okay, that was a dumb question... We're in deep trouble, aren't we?"

Twilight nodded. "Most likely," she said as she let out a small sigh. Noticing Rainbow's mane and coat had been washed clean, Twilight turned, bringing her head underneath the flow of water as she began focusing on washing her own mane.

"Wait..." Rainbow began, uncertain why Twilight hadn't seemed the least bit bothered by the fact. "You're okay sharing the blame?"

"Well I allowed you to stay the night when I easily should have taken you back... I'm not okay with being blamed for your little stunt but I won't deny I'm innocent here either." She lowered her head under the water as she continued to talk. "You and I, we're—" She paused, stopping herself before she accidentally said anything she'd regret. "—we'll both share the blame, and I think that way...it'll be easier on both of us. Of course we'll both be scolded and—"

"Say, we should come up with a lie or something," Rainbow suggested, much to Twilight's surprise.

"Lie?" Twilight pondered the idea. She hardly ever lied. Even if she did, the only other being she associated with on a regular basis was Spike, and what did she have to lie to him about?

"Yeah, you know, lie about what happened," Rainbow continued, bringing Twilight out of her thoughts. "Like let's say instead we tell 'em I was kidnapped or something, yeah! Then you, being the cool and awesome mare that you are, swooped in and rescued me, then brought me back here so you could watch over me and..."

"Rainbow?"

Rainbow stopped for a moment upon hearing Twilight call her name. "Uh...yes?"

"That's the most absurd lie I've ever heard anypony say," Twilight admitted, unintentionally crushing any hope the pegasus may have had of coming up with a good plan. "Besides," she added, "with the amount of trouble we're most certainly already in, lying doesn't sound like the smartest thing to do."

"Alright," Rainbow sighed in defeat. "It _was_ only a thought after all."

Twilight nodded, turning to make sure everything was put away before exiting the shower. She shook her fur dry and grabbed a towel from a nearby towel rack with her magic and placed it over her dripping wet mane. After a few moments, she realized Rainbow had yet to leave the tub and turned to see what was taking her. "Alright, come on Rain—" She paused mid-sentence after noticing Rainbow with her head tilted and mouth hanging open, eagerly guzzling down the water as it rained down on her. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow's ears perked. She stopped, swallowing down the last bit of water as she curiously turned to Twilight. "What? I was thirsty..."

"Well I can get you something to drink soon," she assured Rainbow, as she turned to grab another towel, as well as a medical kit to patch up any spot on the pegasus which had previously been bandaged up. "Just please, not from the shower...that's disgusting."

_Why?_ _It was only water... _Rainbow stepped out onto the bathroom floor, recklessly shaking her coat and mane dry...and in doing so, covered the walls and bathroom tiles in a thin layer of water."Well If you say so..." she said with a hint of curiosity, plopping down beside Twilight...who groaned inwardly as she watched Rainbow's actions.

_Could have waited until I laid down some towels, at least..._ She sighed, taking note of the now-expanding puddle of water beneath Rainbow. Looking around the bathroom however, she noticed the floor wasn't the only place Rainbow had gotten water. _Looks like I'll have to get Spike to clean up in here later..._

But for now, there was still the matter of a certain drenched pegasus before her. Using the towel she already held in her magical grasp, Twilight began drying Rainbow's mane and padding down her fur as gently as she could, hoping to avoid causing her the least bit of pain. She figured she was doing a decent enough job, considering Rainbow's lack of any grunts and groans, or the fact she had yet to whine about something Twilight was doing wrong.

"Isn't there some other way you could go about drying me that's ya know...quicker?" Rainbow asked after several moments had passed in silence. Twilight huffed out her sudden irritation. Then again, maybe she had thought too soon.

"Sorry but there really isn't," she explained. "It's either this, or sitting around and waiting for your coat and mane to dry on their own." With that, Twilight continued drying her off, only receiving an exasperated groan, followed by a few low murmurs she couldn't quite make out, in response.

"And there," Twilight said after a couple minutes had passed, placing the towel aside with a satisfied smile. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I guess not..." came Rainbow's faint response, leaning up off the soaked floor and sitting back on her flank. "Though it sorta feels like it took longer than it should have."

"Well, just be glad be glad it's over," Twilight replied, turning away from Rainbow and walking towards the sink. "Okay, now we need to patch you up again. Let's see..." She picked open the kit that lay on the sink counter and dug around before pulling out rolls of gauze and bandages. "This should do the trick!" Twilight grinned, sitting down on her haunches, and taking Rainbow's hooves one by one into her own. "Now hold still..." Careful not to lay a hoof on any areas that were sensitive to the touch, she began covering any areas that she could remember being bandaged up, or that Rainbow insisted were in pain.

As she applied the final bandages, Twilight thought back to what Rainbow had said about her. She remembered the words Rainbow had used to describe her while suggesting they lie about what happened. Cool...and awesome. Those were the words. Or in words she preferred: marvelous, sensational, magnificent, wonderful—! She paused, now unknowingly blushing, as she debated why Rainbow would chose such words to describe her, or why it even mattered to her.

She was hardly ever complimented by others, and in some ways, she didn't mind. But it was Rainbow who did so, and that made her all the more curious. Especially when she considered the way Rainbow talked with her, and behaved around her...it seemed likely Rainbow had said those things simply to ease her into the idea of lying. Still, a part of her had to be certain. "So..." she began, finding herself staring down at her hooves as she continued. "Um, earlier...did you mean that? What you said about me being 'cool'...and 'awesome'?"

Several long seconds passed as Twilight awaited an answer. However, when the answer didn't come, she nervously peered up from her hooves, only to note Rainbow staring blankly back at her, unsure of whether or not she had heard correctly. Twilight was wondering about _that_? Well, then again, it shouldn't have surprised her. This was Twilight; it would have been unusual for her not to over-think something like that.

Rainbow scratched the back of her mane, searching for an answer, before eventually replying, "Eh, not really."

Right... Figures. _Oh well,_ she thought, standing up and looking down at the newly-bandaged pegasus. "Well anyway, you're all set," Twilight informed her, tossing both their towels into a nearby laundry hamper. "Now, how about some breakfast?"

"About time," Rainbow remarked, grinning in excitement at the thought of her finally receiving a decent meal. Twilight nodded and without hesitation, picked Rainbow off the ground in a magical light, and unlocking the bathroom door, exited the steamy—and partially soaked—bathroom.

* * *

With their shower successfully out of the way, Twilight headed downstairs into the kitchen, carrying Rainbow along with her. Then, in a few mere hoofsteps, they were in the main entrance hall; to the right was a convenient and rather cozy den she'd spend her nights reading when she didn't have a project to attend to or a new spell to master, and to her left, a dining area complete with a small cooking space. Walking into the den and curling up in front of the fireplace with a good book was almost too tempting for the young unicorn, but unfortunately, it would have to wait.

Grudgingly, she still had a pegasus and some breakfast to attend to.

She sat Rainbow down at a table before immediately getting to work, grabbing a selection of goods and ingredients from the fridge and placing them on the nearby counter. _Normally I'd have Spike take care of all this... Too bad he's asleep..._ She would have to handle the cooking this time. If only she was any good at it...

Which is perhaps why she hadn't drawn anything from the fridge that involved a lot of effort. Instead, she grabbed an assorted abundance of fruits and vegetables, a container of milk, and bread and various plants she had kept on the counter where she worked. Slicing fruit or preparing sandwiches was hardly any effort.

Taking a breath and relinquishing in the brief silence she had, took hold of a knife with her magic and began focusing on carefully cutting an orange when she heard a sudden groan Rainbow let out in frustration from where she had been sitting, followed by, "You almost done over there? I'm sorta starving over here..." disrupting her concentration and causing the knife to slip and almost cut her own hoof. Twilight stepped back a few inches, eyes widening as she gulped.

"Well?" Rainbow spoke up again as her body remained hunched over against the dining table. Her head lay on its side, eyes blurry and barely open, lazily staring off into the kitchen space.

Then in a flash, a light appeared before her, starling her, and causing her to stumble back in her seat. The light came and went, and in its place stood Twilight, with the very same look of anger Rainbow had seen the mare give her a dozen times before. "Uh, so I've uh...never seen ya do that before—"

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow backed further away, innocently holding both her hooves before her. "What? Yeesh Twi, what did I do this time?"

"What did you..? What do you mean, what did I do?" Twilight hit her forehead with her hoof, letting out a troubled groan. "You disrupted my concentration, that's what you did! I nearly slit my own hoof because of that!" Finishing, she held up the very hoof that, in her mind, would have been cut clean off.

Upon hearing Twilight's words, all Rainbow could do was tilt her head in confusion. "Okay?" she replied while thinking over what that word even meant.

Twilight turned and faced away from the pegasus, feeling herself growing angrier by the second. "Ugh, I don't believe you! You are so...! So—!"

"H-hey, look, no need to get, uh...however it is you get," Rainbow cut in softly, hoping to calm the mare's nerves and get her to relax. She still wasn't sure what she did exactly, but if it meant avoiding any further arguments, and getting a meal faster... "I didn't know I had disrupted your..._whatever_, and sorry I did...what I did to your hoof, alright? Sorry... I'll be quieter, okay?"

Twilight paused, allowing Rainbow's apology to sink in. She stopped, finding her breathing had become heavier than usual, and remained still for seconds to come, until finally turning to face the rainbow pegasus. "Fine...look, just don't do anything that may disturb me while working, alright?" She noted Rainbow nod in response. "Alright, well... Well hey, I'm still in one piece. No harm done, I suppose... How about we just, forget this ever happened."

"Please," Rainbow replied in agreement.

Twilight nodded, then turned and headed back into the kitchen space. "So um...I'll just get back to work then." She glanced back at Rainbow for a brief moment. "Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes, alright?"

"Uh-huh," Rainbow replied, seemingly uninterested as she went back to lazily lying against the table.

More time passed and Twilight finished preparing a nicely put together breakfast for the two of them. Well, she considered it a nice enough breakfast anyway, considering her lack of experience in the matter. However it hadn't taken minutes like she had promised, but rather a good ten minutes, at the most. An entire ten minutes spent silently regretting having snapped at Rainbow over something that she may have over-exaggerated in the first place. Resting her head on her hooves, she found herself leaning over the counter with only one thought in mind. She looked down at the hoof, that, to her, almost would have been cut. _It's fine... _she thought. _I suppose Rainbow didn't really do anything. Maybe I should—_

"Hey, uh...Twi?" Twilight perked up upon hearing Rainbow call her name. "I uh, know you pretty much wanted me to stay quiet while you work, but uh... I've been watching you, and you've just sort of been...standing there. Are you almost done?"

"Oh Celestia," she cursed under her breath, realizing she had completely forgotten about their breakfast. "Uh, yes, yes I am!" she answered, turning and walking towards Rainbow with plates and glasses held aloft with a simple spell.

"Well?" She eagerly peered up at the assortment Twilight held above her head. "Don't keep me waiting Twi; what did you make?"

"Well Rainbow, since you refuse to eat hay like everypony else, I've prepared something a little different for us this morning," Twilight explained, laying down the assortment of goods upon the table Rainbow sat at. A couple day lily sandwiches, loaded with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onions, and fresh basil herbs, apple and orange slices, a couple fruit salads, and two glasses of milk. "How's this?"

"Uh..." All this was for her...? She stared down at the meal, licking her upper lip and swallowing, soon realizing she was salivating more than usual, and just how starved she had been. Staring down at the food, she realized something else. The food actually looked _good_. Well, it was a step up from the hay she had been given the day before, anyway. Though why Twilight had prepared double of everything did leave her a tad curious. _Ah well, the more the merrier,_ she thought, happily grinning...until a simple wave of Twilight's forearm before her eyes snapped her out of it.

"Hello? Earth to Rainbow? I asked if the food was okay."

"Oh, um..." _She asked that?_ Rainbow thought, realizing she must had zoned out while overlooking the food. "Well, I guess it looks pretty cool, for breakfast anyway."

_I'll take that as a yes,_ Twilight thought, rolling her eyes. And now that their breakfast was prepared and Rainbow was content, there was one more matter which she needed to attend to.

"Alright, well I'll be back in a flash," Twilight said, turning for the stairs leading up to her room. "Just gotta run up stairs real fast, and pack up a few things...for later, alright?"

Rainbow nodded and replied with a quick "Mhm," never once taking her eyes off the food before her.

With that, Twilight proceeded to head up the stairs, into the study and down a corridor, as she thought about just what to take with her. Things that would keep Rainbow, and on a lesser scale, herself, occupied. _Doubt Rainbow was ever much of a reader..._ she surmised, finding the idea of someone like Rainbow actually picking up a book a rather humorous one. But books would have to suffice. It was most of what she owned, anyway.

As she entered her room, she was quick to notice Spike was awake, and up and about. "Morning, Spike," Twilight greeted, alerting the young dragon. "Just getting up?"

"Oh, Twilight..." Spike turned, surprised to face her. "Well uh actually, I've _been_ up. You seemed to be in a rush earlier, and busy with Rainbow, so I didn't say anything..." he explained as the mare trotted past to some nearby bookshelves. "Earlier...you uh, kinda woke me up."

"Oh I did?" she questioned, sounding less than interested. "Sorry about that, Spike." Though that was the least of her problems. Her mind was elsewhere as she crouched and began examining the contents of one shelve in particular. _Okay...do I bring this one? No... Maybe this one? I like this one, but would she—?_

"Uh, Twilight?"

"Oh, by the way, I'm gonna need you to clean up in the bathroom later," Twilight added, thinking back to the watery mess Rainbow had caused earlier that morning. "That's not a problem is it?"

"Well no, but..." He found himself cleaning up after Twilight nearly every morning...after every shower in fact; it was hardly any trouble mopping up some water. But it wasn't the work that was bothering him, but rather the way Twilight was acting all of a sudden, walking on by without a second glance and barely paying him any mind. She seemed almost entirely focused on something else... "Twilight?" he asked, stepping closer to the mare now feverishly pawing through the selection of books and stacking several of them in a pile beside her. "Is something bothering you?" Well, Rainbow aside, though he wouldn't have been surprised if that pegasus really was she was the reason for Twilight's sudden behavior.

_Got to make sure I have enough here to keep Rainbow occupied—_ Twilight's thoughts were interrupted the second she heard Spike's question. "Right... I haven't told you yet, have I?"

Spike titled his head in puzzlement. "Told me what?"

"Oh, just that me and Rainbow will be leaving soon..." She pulled one last book from her own personal library and neatly stacked it beside other items she selected. _There...these should do..._ she thought, glancing briefly at the stack. She stood, inhaling a deep breath before turning and trotting over a chair with a violet saddle embodied with her signature mark, slung over it. She lifted and placed it over her back with the help of some magic, tightening the strap a few times, then trotted back the place she had been standing just mere moments ago. She gazed down at the pile beside her. "I came up here to gather a few things to take with me...hopefully these will keep Rainbow occupied and—" Twilight quickly stopped what she was saying when it finally occurred to her just who she had been talking to this whole time. She had only gone upstairs to grab some things, but ended up pushing Spike to the side as she did so. She had yet to go over any of this with him...

"Oh my Celestia, I'm so sorry Spike, I wasn't...I didn't mean to..." she stammered on her apology. "I really meant to go over this with you earlier, it's just...well, Rainbow, she—" Twilight only stopped once Spike raised his hand, motioning her to quiet down.

"Twilight, it's fine, really," Spike insisted. "You've been busy with her, I get it. I had a feeling you guys would be leaving soon anyway."

"Still... Oh you'll be okay here by yourself for the next few days, right?"

"Twilight, you're acting as if this is my first time staying home alone." Reassuringly, Spike added, "I can handle myself just fine."

"Aw, I know you can Spike." She trotted past him, to a small work area where she grabbed a small scrap of paper and began jotting down notes. "Now I'll be stopping by every now and then to check up on you. Oh and if necessary, I put together a list of ponies you can contact in case of emergency," Twilight said as she handed Spike the slip. Twilight pointed a hoof near the bottom of the page as Spike glanced it over. "I uhm, also included mother and father's information, if you feel you need some grown-up supervision. I'm sure they wouldn't mind looking after you. I mean, we are practically family after all. Oh, and Shining should be available to look after you, if needed, though I'm not sure for how long, and—"

"Twilight!" Spike said loud enough to disrupt the young mare's ramblings. He understood Twilight was worried for him, but it seemed she had forgotten he had been left alone dozens of times before. Yesterday had even been one of those days. He sighed, allowing his voice to lower. "I'll...be fine, alright?"

"Oh I sure hope so, Spike..." She turned and began filing things into the sides of her saddle, hoping Spike was right. _He'll be fine, it'll only be for a few days. Plus he has those contacts, he's old enough, anyway._ she tried to convince herself, if only she could...

"Twilight..." Once more, Twilight found Spike's voice bringing her out of her thoughts. She shook her head, placing the last item of hers within one of the pouches on her saddle as Spike continued. "You don't have to do this for her, you know."

"I promised her I _would_ though, Spike," she said, straightening up and turning her attention towards the young dragon. "Besides, we're stuck with her for the time being anyway, and if I don't go with her, she may try something again." She told herself this was the only reason she would be tagging along with her, to keep her from running away again...but she did find herself wanting to spend more time with her, even if she couldn't explain it, or want to admit it to anypony. Twilight groaned inwardly, letting that last thought sink in. She actually wanted to spend time with Rainbow. Rainbow, of all ponies! And not to learn more about her anymore. It was official, she was losing her mind...

Spike nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I guess in that case you better go with her then."

Twilight leaned down before Spike, and what Twilight planned on being a brief goodbye hug, quickly changed into a hoof being placed on his right shoulder. "So...I'll stop by later to check on how things are going. Keep an eye on the place, and...please be safe?" Shifting her gaze away from Spike, Twilight added in a whisper, "I don't need anypony else crashing through windows around here..."

"What?" Spike asked as Twilight realized what it was she had said.

"Uhm, nothing Spike!" Twilight blushed, scrambling away from the young dragon and quickly stood up, turning for the exit. "Well, I think that's enough of that..." she said flustered, finding her gaze wandering as she continued to walk towards the exit. Before exiting, lifted a hoof and waved a quick goodbye. "I'll uh, see you soon..." she assured him before exiting and leaving one confused Spike inside the room.

Moments passed as Spike stood there, staring at the spot Twilight had previously been standing with an eyebrow raised and one question racing through his mind. _What's gotten into her?_

* * *

_Argh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I say that out loud?_ she scolded herself in thought, mentally slamming her forehead over and over in embarrassment as she trotted down the main staircase. _Don't go falling out windows. What was I thinking?_ Oh how she hoped Spike hadn't actually heard her, but who was she kidding? He had, and Twilight prayed to Celestia he would think nothing of it.

She sighed again; this pegasus was rotting her mind. Thoughts were one thing, but now she was letting this pegasus affect the way she talked. Nearing the entrance to the kitchen, she began to think maybe it all had to do with the fact she had barely since this whole ordeal. That her stomach was simply empty and it'd help once she got some food in her system.

"Yep, I'm just hungry is all," she told herself aloud stifling a grin, stepping off the staircase and immediately spotting Rainbow sitting at the same spot as before. "Hey Rainbow," Twilight greeted, trotting over to join the cerulean mare. "So I grabbed what I needed and I— I..."

Rainbow tilted her head over her shoulders, glancing back at the unicorn who was now frozen in place, mouth agape. She spun around in her seat, grinning as she let out small belch which she quickly covered up with a hoof. "Oh uh, 'scuse me," she said, feeling a blush coming on. "So that uh, that food was pretty good!" Quickly changing the subject and shining a large grin at Twilight, but after several moments of dead silence, her grin began to diminish and Rainbow knew she had unknowingly made another mistake. "Okay, what did I do this time?"

Twilight remained practically oblivious to all of what Rainbow was saying. "You ate all...all my..." she sputtered, eyes wide and walking up to the table littered with empty plates and bread crumbs. "That was supposed to be for the both of us!"

Rainbow paused in the middle of picking her teeth. "Oh uh...you mean this wasn't all for me—?"

"No!" she shouted, barely granting Rainbow enough time to finish her own statement.

Rainbow's eyes widened as she gulped. She had really done it now. "U-um, okay okay, well...it's not like you were _that_ hungry—"

"I was too!" Twilight rebutted. "I practically went the whole day without eating yesterday because you just had to show up. Then I prepare some breakfast, for _both_ of us, and you eat it all!''

"Twi, take it easy. Just grab something from the fridge, or some hay or something."

"Oh please, like I even have a scrap of food left after you've eaten it all—"

Okay, now she was over-exaggerating. Twilight wouldn't have gone through everything she owned to prepare a simple breakfast. "Twi..." she began to say, but was quickly denied by the mare.

"—and now I'll probably have to do some grocery shopping later—" She paused for a brief moment. "Oh wait, I can't. I have to spend the next few days with _you_."

"Twi, you're making way too big a deal outta this."

_A big deal...?_ Rainbow meant to tell her it _wasn't_ a big deal? Eating her share of the meal and plowing through her own food like it was nothing. No, it _was_ a big deal. She was acting exactly how anypony would act in this scenario...or at least, how she imagined other ponies would act. "So what if I am?"

"Jeez, do you always freak out like this?"

"I never 'freak out' Rainbow, I just—" A sudden sound came knocking at the door, and almost immediately Twilight replied.

"What?!" she yelled, glaring at the pegasus before leaving to answer whoever it was at the door. "Whoever it is, now _really_ isn't the time..." Twilight said again through gritted teeth. "I don't mean to be rude, but if you could, please come back another— Why hello!" Her tone shifted suddenly when she noted just who stood at the entrance, and the ponies she had been yelling at...

Before her stood two of the city's royal guards, both unicorns with dark grey coats and clad in golden armor and a helmet with crests matching their white striped tails. Their usual serious expressions were replaced with looks of concern and confusion.

"Morning, Twilight Sparkle. Is everything alright?" one of the stallions greeted, looking down curiously at the young mare. "You gave a shout just moments ago and we heard some mumblings—"

"Y-yes! Uhm, please excuse my outburst; that was nothing! Everything is perfectly fine around here," Twilight lied, through a grinning smile. "Now uh, w-what brings you here...?" Sure she had met members of the royal guard before, whether wandering the streets of Canterlot, or whenever she visited the castle—she had even come to know some of them...partially due to her brother being captain of the guards, but that only made her wonder. Had something happened involving Shining? It was either that, or a matter involving Celestia herself. It made sense, after all; they served under the Princess and catered to her every whim.

Though either of those possibilities filled her with worry, she just hoped one of those was the reason for their visit and not—

"We're here under the order of the Princess herself. We were ordered to investigate reports of a pegasus that..." The guard paused as Twilight felt her body tense up. "Isn't from around here. We would like to learn more about where it is she came from." He stepped forward as Twilight stepped back as he glanced around her. "She is residing here, under your care...correct?"

"A pegasus...? Uh no! Oh no, no no no, why would I be sheltering a pegasus?" she responded with a nervous laugh. "That would be ridiculous! I'm just a student! What would I gain by doing so?"

"We should ask you the same thing." The stallion reached into a case he had been carrying and pulled out some paperwork. "Miss Sparkle...the hospital filed a report that this particular pegasus had gone missing." He held the documents up with a magical aura so Twilight could have a better look. One of the papers he flipped through that Twilight was quick to recognize was the sheet she had used to sign Rainbow in the day before. "We also received documentation that states you had dropped a pegasus off under the alias Rainbow."

Twilight lowered her head. "Oh Celestia..." she muttered, realizing her one mistake.

"Yes, my student?" The guards at her doorstep stepped aside, allowing a white mare with a flowing, celestial-like mane to step forth, stopping once she came before Twilight. "It would be wise not to use my name in vain in such a way."

Twilight's head shot up, eyes wide. "Oh, Princess Celestia!" Immediately she bowed down before her teacher. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—! I mean, I didn't know you were..." Twilight tired to explain, though finding herself unable to do so.

On second thought, why bother saying anything anyway? She was _so_ dead for this.

"It is alright," Celestia assured her pupil, to her surprise, though her body remained still, her gaze focused on the ground below. "However, there is something important that I was hoping to talk with you about." Twilight peaked up in curiosity. "Something about a pegasus...? Rainbow, is it?"

Twilight's eyes returned to the floor. Why had she even bothered to hope it would have been something else? Why else would she had come here? To say hello? She was always too busy to visit, and the one time she does, it's because she got the Princess involved in her own mess...

"Yes...well no, technically it's not," Twilight spoke into her forearms, making it hard for anypony to make out what she was saying. "It's what I decided to name her...since she apparently lost all memory of who she was, and maybe more...it's not really clear—"

"Heard my name!" Rainbow chimed in, having limped over to where Twilight stood, bowed over before the Princess. "Well it's not _really_ my name, or maybe it is...dunno." She quickly glanced over at the unfamiliar visitor, then down at her mare responsible for her. Crouching down next to her and raising an eyebrow as her gaze remained fixed on the violet unicorn, she whispered, "So, what we talkin' about?"

Instead, all Rainbow got was a sudden "Shh," noise as a reply and before Rainbow could question anything, Twilight spoke up again. "Stay down and don't say a word, Rainbow," she whispered, just loud enough so Rainbow, and only her, would hear what she was saying. "We're in enough trouble already and I don't need you making things even worse, for either of us."

Rainbow smirked. "Oh, and since when have I made things worse?" she whispered back to her. Twilight turned her head slightly, glancing at the pegasus as if she had gone crazy. She was kidding, right? Twilight shook her head and shifted her gaze back away Rainbow as she heard the Princess's voice speak up.

"So this...pegasus is Rainbow then, I presume?" she asked, resting her eyes on the cerulean mare.

Twilight nodded softly. "Look, Princess I... I understand if you're disappointed with me..."

"Disappointed with you?" Celestia stepped forward, gently placing a hoof on her student's shoulder. Feeling her hoof on her shoulder, Twilight gazed up only to meet Celestia warmly smiling back at her. "Now why would I be disappointed? You've done nothing wrong here, my student."

"I...haven't?" Twilight found herself confused by her teacher's words.

"Regardless of how you went about doing it, you chose to look after another in their time of need. While I do not know all of the details, it would appear you've done...a well enough job looking after her, and I can say I'm proud of how well you've handled this situation thus far."

"I have?" Twilight asked, this time with a hint of glimmer in her eyes as a small smile formed...only to fade when Rainbow commented on how the Princess herself said she didn't know all the details.

She quickly brushed off Rainbow's remark as another thought soon came to mind. "But Princess, surely you know about the incident at the hospital last night, and how Rainbow flew back here."

"Yes, I am aware, and neither of you are in any trouble."

"I allowed her to stay the night when I really should have brought her back and—" Twilight paused as Celestia's words began to sink in. "I'm sorry?"

"I payed a visit to the hospital you dropped Rainbow off at before arriving here..." Celestia explained, sparking not only Twilight's interest, but for the first time since she had shown up, Rainbow's as well. "I pardoned the two of you after explaining the situation to the head staff there."

Twilight couldn't believe it at first. What she had heard... Just like that, they were apparently off the hook.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. All thanks to the Celestia, she supposed. She had never really thought about, but it was time like these, she was thankful she had Celestia looking out for her...

Though one of her worries had been cleared up, her mind remained riddled with several other questions...not helped by somepony jabbing their hoof repeatedly into Twilight's forearm. Turning her head slightly towards Rainbow, she whispered, "Need something?"

"Yeah, uh...I was kinda wondering what 'pardoned' meant," Rainbow whispered back.

Twilight's eyelids lowered, finding herself once again, in disbelief. Only to fade seconds later once she remembered it wasn't the first time Rainbow had asked a question like this. "It means we're no longer in any trouble," she replied after a few seconds. Rainbow nodded, letting out a small 'Ah,' in response.

"Now then, Twilight," the Princess spoke up, softly smiling down at Twilight. "If I may, will it be alright if I sit and talk with her?"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, ready to question why she'd want to do such a thing, but Rainbow was quick to interject. "Wait wait wait, hold up. Why does mare wanna talk with me?" Rainbow questioned, finding she was no less confused than Twilight.

_Some mare...?_ Twilight nervously grinned at the Princess before turning her attention to the pegasus beside her...who _really_ needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. Quickly covering the pegasus's muzzle with a forearm, she turned back to the Princess with the same nervous grin as she explained, "I'm terribly sorry, Princess; please excuse her attitude. She banged her head pretty bad and must've uh, forgotten how to properly address one such as yourself."

Rainbow opened her mouth wide enough so her tongue could leak out and with it, gave Twilight's forearm a quick, sloppy lick. Anything to free herself from Twilight's grasp... Rainbow immediately made a sour face, followed by a small _blech_ sound and her repeatedly brushing off the base of her tongue with a hoof. It seemed to work however as Twilight pulled her forearm away the second Rainbow licked it. She too seemed to be having the same, disgusted reaction to the act. Brushing her one forearm off with hopes that that would actually do something, she turned and prepared to yell at the rainbow pegasus...starting with the one name she found herself shouting over and over again... "Rainbow!"

"Look, I needed to say something and your arm there was..._kinda_ in the way."

"So you licked it?"

"Would you have liked it better if I bit it?"

"Well no, but—!" Twilight found herself at a loss for words, and realized she could do nothing but let out another agitated groan, briefly turning away from the two. Taking advantage of the situation, Rainbow quickly stifled her laughter and turned to look up towards Celestia.

"So anyway, as I was _trying_ to say..." Rainbow began, glancing at Twilight from the corner of her eye. "Before I let you talk to me, or whatever you want, _I_ wanna know who you are."

Celestia placed a hoof to her chin, looking up as if in thought. "I suppose I never did introduce myself to you properly...alright." She leaned down, becoming eye level with Rainbow. "My job is to assure the safety of ponies like yourself and ensure that all goes well throughout the land."

"Okay...?" All Rainbow could do was tilt her head to the side in confusion as she stared back at Celestia. "What?" She shifted her gaze towards Twilight who seemed to have calmed down, though appeared more embarrassed now than anything. "That's it?"

Twilight looked over at Rainbow, realizing the question had been directed at her. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the pegasus, pulling her close and whispering in her ear, "She's the ruler of Equestria, Rainbow," Twilight said, triggering Rainbow's eyes to grow wide in astonishment. "She's tasked with raising the sun at dawn and moon at dusk, and..."

_And?_ Rainbow thought, staring off ahead of her, and never once changing her expression. Staring indirectly at the mare ahead of her, Rainbow thought Twilight's words over, in a attempt to process how any of what Twilight told was even possible. But what surprised her more was the fact Twilight seemingly wasn't finished, thinking only, _What else could there be?  
_

"She's my teacher," Twilight added, "so please, show some respect."

_She's...Twilight's teacher?_ Rainbow, for a moment, found herself amazed by the fact. Only to hide it seconds later behind an unimpressed demeanor, followed up by another one of her usual ill-mannered remarks.

"Alright...but you know, she could've just said that."

Twilight lightly shoved Rainbow away with a single hoof and turned to face the Princess. With Rainbow's questions out of the way, she could finally ask what was on her mind. "Forgive me for asking, but...you said you wanted to talk with Rainbow?" Sure, it made sense she supposed, but still... "_Rainbow_?"

Rainbow shifted a look towards Twilight, her eyes narrowing, unamused. "You know I'm standing right here, Twi," she faintly added in, though Celestia had managed to catch some of what the pegasus had muttered out.

"Twi?" she asked, looking to her student. That was new. Never in the time she had known Twilight, had another pony referred to her by such a name.

"It's a...nickname, Princess," Twilight explained. "A name Rainbow insists on calling me." She stopped for a moment, glancing at Rainbow from the corner of her eye. "Although I'm not sure why..."

Celestia merely chuckled softly at the what her student had told her, holding hoof over her muzzle as she did. "Is that right?" she questioned as her quiet laughter began to die down. "So, if I may..."

"Oh, y-yes! Please, come in!" Twilight said, now blushing profoundly as she realized just how off-track the three had all gotten. "This way, Princess..." Clumsily backing away and picking Rainbow off the floor, she motioned Celestia in, leading her into the entrance hall and into the tower's den.

* * *

I think a bit overboard with all the ellipses and dashes. I mean, at least one of those can be found in nearly every sentence! Sheesh... Well on another note, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind comments and reviews; it really encourages me to keep working on this thing. Even if it's constructive, so I at least know what there is to improve upon (writing, characterization, consistency), or if there even is anything.

One more thing. Both chapters two and three (and the yet-to-be-uploaded fourth chapter) were meant as a single chapter, but once it exceeded 30,000 words, I figured it'd be a good idea to split them up. So chapters three and four are really just the second half of this one. σ_σ


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

So they were free then? No longer in any sort of trouble? That's what the Princess had lead to her believe, wasn't it? It seemed that way, but Twilight didn't know for certain. All Twilight _did_ seem to know at that moment was that the Princess had asked to have a convenient little chat with somepony whom it'd be easier questioning a brick wall than it would her.

Twilight sighed. This whole day up to the moment Celestia had arrived at her doorstep had been a mess, and Twilight couldn't make heads or tails of it. Heck, even now, it was still a mess. It went from wanting to leave early—a simple enough desire—to discussing their possible punishment and getting...a tad bit angry with Rainbow once or twice. Now the Princess was in her home, seated around a blazing fireplace in the tower's den...and she was having a tough enough time taking it all in.

Rainbow's voice entered her mind, bringing the violet mare out of her thoughts. She glanced over and sure enough, Rainbow was going on about something... Something that, as she listened, began to recognize. Of course Rainbow would choose _this_ as a topic of conversation...

"Seriously Princess, she even yelled at me for the billionth time like, right before you showed up, complaining about how I was wasting all her food and how 'The food was for the two of us, and I ate it all,' blah blah blah."

What were they even talking about beforehand? She supposed, had she not been zoning out, that Celestia could have asked about her morning, or something along those lines. Or Rainbow was simply stating something to embarrass or make her look bad. Either way...the latter thought was certainly ringing true and Twilight found herself with no choice but to intervene. "But it was!" she interjected, much to the surprise of Celestia and Rainbow. "And you _are_ eating all our food!"

"Oh yeah? Well...uhm, you uh...if you were really concerned about that, you never would've given me anything to eat."

"Well maybe I only shared with you so you'd quit your constant whining—"

"Calm down. Both of you." A moment of silence came and went before Celestia spoke up again. "Neither of you should be arguing with one another like this."

"But Princess—!"

"She started it—!"

The two young mares exchanged confused glances with one another before Twilight decided to speak first. "Oh so I was the cause of this? Is that right?"

"I dunno, maybe you were," Rainbow answered, followed with a shrug. "Perhaps you should have labeled your share or something."

"Label my...what?" Twilight stared at her, stunned. Rainbow had said some senseless things in the short time they had known one another, but that... "That doesn't even make sense!"

"Will the two of you please stop this pointless bickering?" Celestia spoke again, this time raising her tone, and almost immediately both mares did as they were told. Though their arguing had ceased, their eyes remained fixed on one another, glaring each other down.

Celestia sighed, wondering, as she watched their behavior, how the two managed to survive the previous day together. She looked down at the unicorn sitting beside her, and lowering her voice, she said, "Twilight, my student...you shouldn't blame Rainbow for what she did, if she was not aware to begin with."

Rainbow grinned the second she heard Celestia's words. "Yeah Twi, no blaming me! Princess's orders," she said, briefly sticking her tongue out, and bringing Twilight's attention back to her. The act however, only left Twilight more confused than anything, and left her wondering why she did such a thing.

Though she simply passed it up as Rainbow's lips being dry, what Rainbow had said before managed to get under her skin. After deciding what she'd say, Twilight opened her mouth to speak...only to her attention back to the Princess when she discovered she had beat her to it.

"As for you..." Celestia began, turning her attention towards Rainbow. "I ask that you show a bit more consideration for Twilight...she has been good to you after all, has she not?"

"Well...!" Despite multiple shortcomings and arguments with one another, Rainbow hated to admit it, but...yeah, she supposed Twilight had. "Er, yeah...she has," Rainbow admitted in defeat, allowing her head to hang slightly and letting out a tiny breath of air. "Sorry," she added, letting out a nervous chuckle as she placed a hoof behind her head; her lips forming an apologetic smile as she now focused on the studious mare sitting across from her.

The lone act had caught Twilight's attention, and while Rainbow's eyes had the habit of drifting between her and the floorboards, Twilight's eyes remained fixed on her; feelings of confusion, yet...astonishment swelled up inside her. The new, and...rather uneasy behavior, was an unusual sight for her in the time she had known Rainbow. Though perhaps even more unusual for the mare, was the fact Celestia had brought this on.

She didn't know what to think, or even say at that moment, if she even should've. However, she realized two things at that moment: she really _was_ lucky to have Celestia looking after, and, at that moment, a new feeling overcame her; a feeling she was certain had never felt before. One she couldn't quite describe... But she liked it.

Hopeful thinking perhaps, but at that point, Twilight found herself wishing this would signify a new start for the two...or that their relationship improve, if only a bit.

As her mind filled with these thoughts, she almost didn't realize Celestia had continued speaking, and with a quick shake of her head, returned to reality, listening in on what her teacher had begun to say.

"I do not know what it was that caused yesterday's events, but the two of you were brought together because of it," Celestia went on to say. "I can understand how stressful this situation may seem, but having senseless arguments won't change it any."

Twilight and Rainbow softly nodded as Celestia finished, her words lingering in both of the young mares' thoughts. Celestia was right. Hay, they knew she was right. Twilight had agreed to make her home a home to somepony without one...well until she was fit to return home, wherever that may be. But here they were arguing over what exactly? No, Celestia was right. No more pointless arguing, or losing her temper... If this were to work, she'd have to become more tolerant of the pegasus...even if it'd pain her to do so...she'd give it a shot.

"You're right..." Twilight acknowledged in a soft tone, her eyelids lowering as her gaze fell to the floor. "Sorry Princess."

Celestia nodded, gazing down at the two with a caring smile. "Now then...perhaps we can get along a little better?"

Neither of them wasted any time deciding their response as they both replied, "Yes," in unison, seemingly surprised at first that each of them seemed to agree on the subject. But they both agreed, and that was enough for Twilight. Enough to know that Rainbow was willing to cooperate and hopefully make this whole situation easier on the both of them.

Looking one another in the eyes, neither spoke, unsure of what either should say. Biting her lip, Twilight eyes fell to the floor for the briefest moment, debating what to say—she supposed an apology would suffice...or maybe she should simply wait for Rainbow to speak up. It wouldn't have surprised her if Rainbow had wanted to get the first word in. But to her surprise, Rainbow seemed no less certain than herself, leaving Twilight with no other choice but to say something. _Anything_ to break the silence...

Letting out a small breath of air, and deciding what exactly to say, Twilight turned to face her. "Sorry Rainbow...I keep telling myself I shouldn't be so hard on you, and yet everything you do causes me to...to..." Her voice slowed to a stop, realizing she was at a loss for words. She knew what to say, how to say it, yet...she found herself unable to do so. Whether it was due to feeling uncomfortable, or at the moment, embarrassed; Twilight didn't know. All she did know was this had all sounded so much easier in her head...

Making matters worse, she realized Rainbow was still staring at her, awaiting what couldn't be said. _Great..._ she mused, lowering her head and letting a faint, flustered groan escape her lips, followed by a light tap to the forehead, subsequently brushing a corner of her mane up as her hoof ran through it.

Similarly, Rainbow equally found herself at a loss of words. With one eyebrow raised, she couldn't help but wonder, _So...I cause her to break down and slam her forehead repeatedly?_

"I cause you to do..._that_, huh?" Rainbow asked, cracking a grin and doing whatever she could _not_ to burst out in a fit of laughter right at that moment. But Rainbow wasn't that far off. After all, Twilight did find herself falling victim to those habits nearly every time the pegasus got on her nerves. So she nodded.

"In a way, yes..." Twilight replied, the voice she had so desperately needed moments ago now returning to her. Her hoof fell from her forehead, though she soon found herself clutching her other forearm as she looked off to the side, nervously biting at her inner bottom lip.

Several seconds passed with neither saying a word, until Rainbow decided it was a good enough time as any to get a word in; and taking advantage of the silence, she did just that. "Yeah, well...I suppose I shouldn't just be thinking of myself here," she admitted, rubbing a hoof behind her neck and surprising Twilight as she spoke. "I guess I ended up roping you into all this because I was probably flying recklessly or something...when you didn't want anything to do with any of this, or me." She glanced down at the floor as her lips formed a fake smile. With a halfhearted shrug, added, "Hay, you probably still don't—"

"That's not true..." Twilight replied in a faint tone, her eyelids half-lidded and gazing downwards, past Rainbow. Hastily turning red, she prayed Rainbow hadn't heard her just then—hay, she wished she hadn't heard that. With her luck however—the same luck that brought a pegasus crashing into her home—it was unlikely Rainbow hadn't heard her...and she was right.

Rainbow's forearm froze, her gaze quickly returning to Twilight, as she let out a baffled, "Huh—?" in response. Though before a chance to properly question anything, Celestia, having remained passive as the two talked, decided to intervene.

"Well," she began, "I suppose that's enough for now. It's good to see the two of you have reached an understanding." She smiled, finding herself rather impressed with both their behavior. Minutes ago the two were at each others' throats, but now they were forgiving, and willing to work together...if only a little. _Maybe there stands a chance of this working after all..._

But for now, there still remained questions that Celestia had been meaning to ask since she had first heard of the pegasus's arrival, and now having the chance to do so, she calmly asked, "Rainbow...how are you feeling?"

"Feeling?" Rainbow repeated in question, a bit taken aback by what the Princess had asked her and it only made her wonder why she had even asked such a thing in the first place. Did she look as though something was wrong with her? Or on second thought, perhaps she was referring to her physical injuries? Rainbow could only assume that's what she must've been getting at. "Well my body feels sore in some places, that's for sure," she explained, smiling nervously as she placed a cautious hoof over her lower back. "It's sorta hard for me to move about, so Twi here usually carries me about with her magic."

"Is that right?" Celestia chuckled slightly, moving a hoof to cover her muzzle. "Actually I was referring to the incident yesterday...and how you're taking losing your memory..."A brief pause followed and during that time, Twilight thought over what the Princess had said. It had surprised that the Princess had been so direct about this, much less asked about it. Though, truthfully...she would have been lying if she had insisted she hadn't wondered about it numerous times the day before and would have questioned it directly too, had she only found a moment to before it slipped her mind.

Well, Twilight supposed it didn't matter now. She would be getting an answer any minute now, so long as Rainbow complied anyway.

"So if it's okay with me asking," Celestia continued, "I'd like to learn how you're taking this. If you're worried at all—"

"What's there to be worried about?" Rainbow questioned, though abruptly, and right away Twilight assumed this had been a sarcastic remark from the mare, but she had sounded completely serious. "I bump my head, lose some memories, bang myself up a little...no biggie. I have someplace to stay, have somepony nice looking after me, and it's not like it's permanent or anything. I'll recover my memory eventually anyway," Rainbow finished with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well that's..." Celesta started, when Twilight finished for her, stating what her and the Princess had both been thinking.

"Optimistic," she said. Well, among other things. It was already made clear to her the way Rainbow was. But now Twilight could add a sense of childish optimism to the list. "A bit _too_ optimistic actually, Rainbow. This may be permanent..."

"Yeah, well...I hear ya, but I'm pretty sure this isn't," Rainbow simply said, laughing off Twilight's concern. "Look, you said I could crash here for a while until I regained my memories, right? So I guess we'll see whether they return or not."

_'Crash' here?_ That part in particular had caught the Princess's attention. So her student had allowed this pegasus to reside here. That was certainly unusual of her... "Twilight?" Twilight turned, curious as to what the Princess wanted to know from her all of a sudden. "You said that?"

_Oh, right...I never mentioned..._ Great, it had slipped her mind. Well, on second thought, she had mentioned it in her letter she had written up the night before— _Oh, right! How could I forget about that?_ Without a word, Twilight scrambled to her hooves, and dashed out of the room to fetch what would hopefully answer some of the Princess's questions.

Twilight's abrupt leaving however, only left the two exchanging confused glances. Though neither Celestia or Rainbow could deny they hadn't expected this from her. Still, why she had suddenly trotted off, left the two with a multitude of questions, soon followed by an awkward silence.

"So, uh..." —Rainbow placed a hoof behind her neck— "Is she usually so...eh, you know..." Her voice slowed to a stop and soon Rainbow found even she had no idea how to put Twilight's behavior into words. She supposed awkward was one way of putting it. Brash, and not exactly what you'd call social, perhaps a little temperamental...strike that; _way_ temperamental.

"Twilight's...different than most others. She's..." Celestia paused, seemingly unsure of what to say, or how to say it. "Not like you and I."

"Yeah, you don't say?" Rainbow grinned, letting out a soft snicker.

"She can be difficult sometimes, but she can also be a very kind, and understanding individual," Celestia explained, though her smile soon went from warm to sheepish as she went on to say, "Lately though, she's become increasingly involved in her studies; it seems to have gotten a bit out of hand... I've told her to go out, make some friends, but she's come to prefer solitude I suppose."

_Not surprising..._ Rainbow mused, smirking at the thought.

"But please," Celestia continued, looking Rainbow squarely in the eyes. "Give her a chance, and maybe..." Her eyelids lowered as her voice became that of a whisper. "You'll be the one to change her, for the better."

"I— Wait...wha—?" Had she heard correctly? First Twilight, now her teacher...what was with everypony muttering things around her? "What did you—?"

"Got it!" Twilight's voice rang through the den and a brief second later, the unicorn reappeared, skidding to a stop beside Rainbow and holding a rolled up piece of parchment in her magical grasp. "Here...I, I wrote this last night," she said, panting as she hovered the piece over to the Princess. Falling back on her haunches and wiping a forearm across her brow, Twilight continued to catch her breath, while the two couldn't help but wonder if she had ran back and forth between...wherever it was she had gone off to. It sure looked like it. Nevertheless though, Celestia graciously accepted the parchment and unrolled it as Twilight went on to explain, "I had planned on having Spike send this to you, but then you showed up, and well..."

She placed a hoof behind her head, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Point is, this should help you understand some of what happened yesterday."

"How very kind of you to do so. Thank you, Twilight."

"Uh-huh," Twilight nervously replied. She found that was all she could say at that moment, until a thought occurred to her. She never had answered the Celestia's question from earlier... "So uh, sorry about running off like that..." she apologized. A good enough way to begin, she presumed. While Celestia went on reading, nodding slightly at her student's remark, Twilight hesitantly continued. "To answer your question from earlier...I did. Yesterday, Rainbow, she...insisted that she stay here with me, hoping that doing so might bring back some memories, and it seemed like a good idea at the time..."

Weakly, Twilight added as she closed her eyes, "Sorry, Princess..." Sorry for a number of reasons. For one, not telling her sooner. Here the Princess was, talking with the two of them, and Twilight couldn't help but feel like a complete scatterbrain over the fact she had yet to bring up something as crucial as the two living together!

And from the way the Princess had asked her, Twilight assumed she wasn't all too thrilled with her decision of taking Rainbow in. Well, that's what Twilight had assumed, anyway.

"Sorry?" The Princess almost sounded surprised that her student apologized for her actions...and admittedly, she _was_ surprised. Twilight had no reason to apologize. "You needn't apologize so often, Twilight. It is alright."

"But I—" Twilight paused, her wide-eyed gaze returning to meet Celestia's. "Really?"

Celestia nodded, setting the letter aside as she went on to explain, "Watching over this one until we can learn where exactly it is she comes from and granting her a place to stay is not something to be ashamed of." With a reassuring smile, she added, "Aside from a few minor mishaps, you thought rationally and with others in mind, went about handling this situation to the best of your ability...doing what you thought was best. You've done a fine job, my student."

She did a fine job? That's what she had heard alright, but hay, Twilight still couldn't believe it! Princess Celestia had congratulated her on how she went about looking after Rainbow...even if she wasn't completely sure as to why. To Twilight, she had done barely okay...but then again, Rainbow was still in one piece and would be getting the help she needed, they were both seemingly out of trouble, and Celestia seemed pleased... Maybe she hadn't done such a bad job after all... "Oh uhm, t-thank you, Princess," Twilight said, graciously accepting the Princess's words. But there was still one question on her mind...

"B-but...well, you aren't going to leave her in my hooves, are you?" Not that she was entirely against the idea, but it made sense she would be taken away now, taken to live somewhere else...the castle perhaps, where Celestia could keep an eye on her personally and monitor the situation herself. It seemed likely, it made sense...

However there was no way Rainbow would ever go along with the sudden change...and it was for that reason, Rainbow would have to remain here, with her, for the time being anyway. Now she'd only need to convince the Princess of allowing her to keep watch over the pegasus. It wasn't a task for a student, obviously, but if Celestia had freely admitted to her doing a fine job, then perhaps just maybe, she would allow it.

Unknown to Twilight however, Celestia had already decided. "She'll stay here, with you."

"Alright, but at least consider—wait...you said she can stay here?" Twilight blinked a couple times, staring absentmindedly at the Princess and baffled by the fact Princess Celestia _had_ allowed such a thing. Either Celestia saw her as the only one capable of dealing with a pegasus such as herself, or realized just how stubborn Rainbow was and thought it'd be easier to simply have her stay. Either way...

"She can stay..." Twilight muttered aloud in thought, and right then, felt her heart hammer against her chest as blood rushed to her cheeks. Unknowingly, her lips formed a smile. A new feeling rose up from deep inside her, and although she was unsure of the feeling, she could tell it wasn't a bad one. Something about Rainbow staying made her feel...nice, and soon a warm feeling overcame her...

"You can stay!" Twilight exclaimed, full of excitement as she turned to Rainbow, and before she could even begin to realize what she was doing, found herself standing up on her own two forelegs and lifting Rainbow by the bases of her forearms along with her in a tight embrace; and she continued, holding her close enough that their muzzles brushed against one another for the briefest moment and staring back at her with the same silly grin she thought only somepony like Rainbow could make... Guess it had rubbed off on her.

Rainbow simply stared blankly back at her, not even sure what to think. Only that the entire act was...unexpected. What happened to the Twilight she had come to know? It seemed like she was simply caught in the moment, but...why? Since when did Twilight actually _want_ her living here?

"Gee Twi, I-I'm happy too, but uh, by any chance, could you maybe let me down? This is ah, really starting to hurt..." Being lifted off the ground by somepony who could barely lift her off the ground, with trembling forearms and clearly no idea what she doing was starting to take its toll on the young pegasus.

Regardless of whether of not Twilight had forgotten about her injuries, regardless of how she was holding onto her...it was causing tremendous pain to shoot up through her body...and Rainbow could only bare it for so long.

Then it occurred to Twilight what she doing, and immediately let go of her.

She stifled a quick gasp with a hoof as took a step back with her other hoof against her cheek. "Oh my—" She caught herself, remembering whose presence she was in and went on to make sure Rainbow was okay, all the while in her thoughts, scolding herself, and sputtering a near-endless string of the word, _sorry_...well, until she ran out of breath anyway.

So she grabbed another one and continued with another onslaught of apologies...until she could have sworn she heard Rainbow say it was okay...that she didn't need to apologize. She almost couldn't believe it. "Excuse me? I...don't have to? But Rainbow, I acted—!" Well actually, she had no idea _what_ exactly she just did, or why she did what she did. So had permission to watch over Rainbow and she'd be staying here, so what? Was it really that important to her? "Look, I don't know how I acted, or why I did that, but I shouldn't have done that...whatever it was that I did. You're injured and I should never have lifted you about like that..."

"Twi, it's fine, really. You were just excited—"

"But why? What reason could I possibly have for—?" She paused right as she noticed Rainbow form a small, mischievous grin and Twilight had a feeling she knew what Rainbow was about to say. "I-I don't like you!" she said, being quick to defend herself, and cheeks burning red.

"_Sure_ you don't," she replied in an almost sarcastic tone, causing the violet mare to become even more flustered and her entire body to burn bright red which Rainbow was quick to note. Perhaps she had gone a bit too far...

Or perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned that in front of Twilight's teacher and lone ruler of Equestria! Twilight let out a quiet groan. Rainbow really needed to learn when to talk, or when not to spout out jokes about her... She could only hope Celestia hadn't caught on to what Rainbow had suggested.

And she hadn't...but watching the scene unfold before her, other thoughts began to surface, and one of which was becoming clear...the two were becoming friends...

Even if neither had come to realize this. It was already clear Twilight wasn't sure what to make of this. How to act, what to say, why she acted the way she did, or why she felt the things she did...it was all new to her. Nothing but a foreign concept to the young unicorn. It was however, only a matter of time before she realized it and the more time the two spent together, the faster the two of them would hopefully come to this realization.

"So um, Princess...why exactly are you allowing this again?" she asked, hoping to change the subject. And truth be told, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in finding out herself. "Allowing Rainbow to reside here, I mean."

"Oh, well..." Celestia snapped back to reality, taking notice of Twilight...and the other pony quietly grumbling and attempting to brush off the pain from earlier. "You see, my duties as both Princess, and serving as a teacher for you leave me with little time to look after somepony such as Rainbow."

She supposed what Celestia said had held some truth to it. Rainbow was a handful after all. But even so, the idea didn't sit all too well with her. "So, you're leaving me in charge simply because you don't have time...is that it?"

"You could also say I wish not to disrupt Rainbow, who seems rather content, here with you."

Twilight opened her mouth as she prepared to speak, ready to retort against what she had said...when it hit her. What Celestia had said just then, had been her own reasoning as well, and it made sense. "Okay, okay...I get it."

The Princess nodded, then stood, as the conversation between them drew to a close. She had seen and learned all that she needed... "So I'll be leaving you in charge of her. Think of it as an...assignment."

"A-an assignment? Princess...?" So looking after Rainbow was now an assignment for her to undergo? That's how she wanted Twilight to see this? What was she even supposed to learn—?

"One that will teach you to look after others."

"Oh..." So that's what she was supposed to learn? "But what does that have to do with my magic studies? Or anything for that matter?" It didn't seem to matter. It didn't affect her magical studies, or her ability to control or manipulate magic...it was just her, learning how to care for somepony. It occurred that perhaps, just maybe, Celestia made this an assignment so she wouldn't be split between her regular studies and looking after Rainbow...and making this her only assignment would make things easier on her.

"Twilight Sparkle..." Twilight broke away from her thoughts and looked up towards the Princess at the mention of her name. "You are a brilliant young mind...however, there is something in which you lack." She paused, momentarily glancing over at Rainbow. "Rainbow, Twilight isn't the only one...I expect you to learn from this experience as well."

Rainbow stifled a grunt and turned to Celestia, a puzzled look plastered across her face. Celestia wanted her to learn something? _Sounds boring..._ was her only thought before the pain soon snapped her from her thoughts.

Though Twilight wasn't so easily distracted.

Lack? "I...lack something?" That left the mare without words, and unsure of what Celestia was even getting at. She didn't _lack_ anything...or so she insisted on telling herself. If it was caring for others, it was already made clear she would work on it. It was an assignment of hers now, after all. But if she had meant something else... She stood now with an outstretched forearm and slowly rotating a hoof in a circular motion toward the Princess, as if motioning her to explain. "Which is...?"

What Twilight got however, wasn't the answer she had been looking for.

"I'll let you discover that on your own," came her vague response, though it only left Twilight with more questions. But Celestia spoke up again before Twilight was given the chance to ask any. "Now, first thing's first, we need to get you and Rainbow back to the hospital."

_Oh that's right!_ Twilight slapped her forehead and scolded herself over the fact she had forgotten something so important. Hay, Princess Celestia was right. Even if the Princess's words had been lost on her young student, now wasn't the time to question them. No, what mattered most was getting Rainbow back there, and hopefully without a single mishap this time around. "Okay..." she agreed, and as the Princess nodded and turned to leave, another thought suddenly popped into the young mare's head. "But Princess...you—you're saying that...you're not going to help me, or her... That this is all something I must handle on my own?"

Twilight's final question left the alicorn frozen in her tracks. She tilted her head back over her shoulder at her student who looked back at her with almost baffled eyes...seemingly worried she would be left to deal with this all on her own. She had placed all this responsibility on her shoulders and never once mentioned how she would help—if she would help at all. She felt foolish having never brought this up until now, when she did indeed intend to help. "Both myself and members of the royal guard will be out delivering and gathering information from neighboring towns and cities. If she did fly in from somewhere else, we'll be sure to let you know," she finished explaining as Twilight's spirits lifted a little knowing she wouldn't be..._completely_ on her own as she dealt with this.

"Sorry for not informing you sooner, my student."

"Oh, no need to apologize Princess, it's...fine, really," Twilight assured, though she wished Celestia had mentioned this earlier...but at least she _had_ brought it up, and now she knew others would be helping out too... That's all that mattered.

"Now let us go." The Princess motioned both to follow her before proceeding to the exit herself. "You two may ride with me."

Well, that was new. Twilight had never been given the opportunity to ride with the Princess before. Or, come to think of it, she had hardly ever ridden in any means of transportation before. Or with royalty, for that matter. The idea alone made Twilight a little excited, and at the same time, glad that she would no longer have to fret over carrying Rainbow through the cobblestone streets on their way to the hospital.

Breathing out a sigh, and watching as Celestia left the tower's entrance, Twilight turned to face Rainbow who seemed to be concentrating on shaking off any lingering pain from earlier. "You heard her, Rainbow...come on."

Rainbow winced for a brief moment, straightening her back and stretching her aching forearms one after the other. With a sigh of relief, she relaxed her muscles and let her shoulders droop before turning to Twilight. "Aw...already?" she groaned, hoping perhaps, they could have gotten another hour or two before heading back.

"Rainbow—!" Twilight nearly yelled, when she caught herself. "I mean, uh...yes Rainbow, it's that time already. Now please, come along..."

"Ugh, fine..." She groaned, wishing she could just waste the day here in the tower instead. But this was something she had to go through...and the sooner she got it over with, the better. Well at least Twilight would be accompanying her...that was something. "Well?" Rainbow began to say, from her spot on the floor. "Go on, do your thing."

"Do my...what—? Oh, you mean carry you...right." Her horn lit up, and used her magic to carefully lift the pegasus from the floor and into the air. "Well, I think that's it then." She tightened the saddle around her body and double checked all the pockets and sleeves to assure that she had all that she needed, and took one quick glance around the room before heading for the exit...when something stopped her.

"Twilight?" a voice called out to her from the nearby staircase leading upstairs, and right away Twilight and Rainbow recognized who it belonged to. Twilight spun around, unintentionally causing Rainbow to as well, as she noticed her assistant watching from behind a small opening between the stairwell and the den where the two were situated.

"Spike?" Twilight questioned, cocking her head. She could had sworn he had been upstairs while they were meeting with the Princess. "How long were you...?"

He stepped out into the open and walked over to them, watching Rainbow from the corner of his eye. "Long enough to know she'll be staying here—"

"Only until she's able to return home," Twilight was quick to correct. She figured that must have been when Spike entered the scene, but why he had chosen to stay hidden still made little sense to her. "You know you at least could've come out and said hello."

"Well at the moment it didn't seem like a good time to interrupt," he replied. Spike stopped before Twilight, suddenly find his gaze wandering and unable to face Twilight directly. He clutched his arm as he quietly added, "you know...you got pretty excited when you found out she'd be staying..."

_He saw that?_ Well it shouldn't have surprised her, considering that happened right after it was revealed Rainbow would be staying. But she found herself growing flustered over the fact he _had_ seen her whisk the pegasus off her hooves. Something she still had no idea why exactly she even did it to begin with.

"Look, Spike I— Believe me when I say I have _no_ idea why I did that."

Spike shifted a suspicious glance in her direction. "You don't, huh?" Somehow, he doubted that.

"Well actually Spike, it's because she—" Rainbow replied with a hint of witticism, though was quickly interrupted by Twilight before getting the chance to finish. There was no way she'd allowed her to finish that statement.

"Be quiet, Rainbow." Twilight huffed out in annoyance. Now _so_ wasn't the time. The two of them were already running late, and as troublesome as it seemed, this would have to wait until later. "Look, Spike, can we please talk about this some other time? When I check by here later perhaps?" She placed a hoof below her chin, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm sure the Princess is wondering what's keeping us..."

"Go on then," Spike said, forcing a smile and waving them off. "You shouldn't be keeping someone like Celestia waiting."

"Oh uhm, well...alright," Twilight said with a questioning glance, surprised by his rather sudden shift in tone. "I'll be seeing you later then, I guess," she told him, while in her head, she mentally shrugged. Whatever was bothering him, if anything at all, hopefully it could be resolved later.

"Come along, Rainbow," Twilight added as she turned and began trotting towards the doorway, hoisting the pegasus above her while she went on about...something; Spike couldn't tell what, nor did it particularly interest him.

"Alright, but seriously Twi, I'm telling ya I'm fine! My body's not even in that much pain! I mean, I don't see why I have to go back there when I could just rest here instead..." Her voice continued—Twilight shaking her head once, and saying things in response that Spike couldn't quite make out—until at last, they had left.

The door to the Ivory Tower shut behind them, and for a moment, Spike stood motionless. Silent and still, cast aside. He stood in thought, unsure of how to feel, or what to think. Twilight had said she'd talk with him when she got home. That was if she wasn't too preoccupied with her new-found obsession.

He sighed, lowering his head and closing his eyes. No, Twilight would never break a promise like that. She would be back eventually, he'd just have to wait until that moment came. But what was there to do until then? He supposed he could do some work to pass the time. The kitchen was most likely a mess, especially if Twilight had tried her hoof at preparing something; and he had made a small dent in the bathroom, though for the most part, it remained a soggy, soaking mess. Peering back up at his surroundings, he settled on doing just that.

Still, as he slowly walked to the kitchen, he couldn't help but think back to moments earlier...the look Twilight had given him.

Oh yes, _he_ was the odd one... No, this wasn't a matter of him acting odd, it was simply a matter of being unable to express how he felt—about all this. He didn't have a problem with Rainbow, or her staying here even! What he _did_ have a problem with was her seemingly stealing his one and only caretaker—and friend—away from him...

* * *

"Ah...this is nice." Rainbow let out a relaxed sigh as she stretched her forelegs out, resting them on the seat in front of her. Both mares sat facing forward in the back row of a two-row carriage; Celestia taking the front row which remained cut off from the back by means of a glass window. "So much better than being carried around by you." She slouched down in her seat, allowing her head to sink into the plush velvet backing of the seat, barely turning to her right to have a better view of Twilight. "Hey, speaking of not being carried around by you, I guess you no longer have to do that, huh?" she joked, lightly nudging her with a hoof.

But Twilight had barely paid her any attention. It seemed her mind was focused on other matters, and all she could manage was a muffled, "Uh-huh..." in response.

"_Uh-huh_, huh?" The pegasus grinned as her gaze returned to that ahead of her. "Man I am _so_ not looking forward to later... Think they'll just let me lie in bed all day?" After a few moments passed and still no reply, Rainbow turned to face Twilight. "Hey...hello? Twi? You listening?" she asked, lazily waving a hoof past her eyes.

"What am I supposed to learn from _you_?" Twilight finally asked, never once glancing back at the pegasus, and remaining indifferent to the ponies around her. All she could focus on was what Celestia had said about the two learning from one another. It made no sense. Rainbow was...well, not exactly knowledgeable for one thing. Or in her current condition, anyway.

"That's what made you go all silent on me?" Rainbow smirked. She should have known by know it was Twilight she was talking to, and if she had learned anything from their time together, it was that Twilight was always one to sweat the small stuff. Though it had occurred to Rainbow that perhaps she did have a reason to worry. Somepony as smart as she was...suddenly being told there was something she had yet to learn. And that that something was to be taught to her by some memory-ridden pegasus she had only know for over a day.

But that pegasus had no idea what she was even meant to teach her... Still, Celestia said there was something both of them could learn...guess that meant she'd be learning something too. Rainbow shrugged. Whatever it'd be. Still, Twilight wasn't the only one and at the least, could remind her of that. "Well hey, she said I could learn something from you too!" She paused, looking away in embarrassment, realizing now just how little that helped anything. "Only well...I guess it's different in my case what with no memory and all..."

_She just realized that?_ Twilight questionably glanced over at the rainbow pegasus. If that had been an attempt to make her feel better about all this, it hadn't been a very good one.

"But you do seem pretty smart..." Rainbow continued, turning back to face her. "Hay, you could probably teach me anything!"

"Sure, if you were willing to listen." Which Twilight couldn't help but feel she wouldn't be. Twilight narrowed her eyes as she concentrated on the prismatic mare. "But you...what could you teach me?"

"Well..." Rainbow thought about it for a moment herself before coming up with an answer. "I have wings!" she exclaimed, pointing a hoof over her shoulder.

"And I have a horn," she replied, mimicking Rainbow by pointing a hoof at the horn on her head. "Your point?"

"They're something you don't have!" She stretched out one of her wings for a moment—brief enough for Twilight to take notice—before wincing and quickly bringing it back to her side. "I could..._kind of_ talk to you about them. Maybe attempt to teach you something about them—"

"I already know enough about wings, thanks," Twilight rebutted, passing off Rainbow's offer without a second thought. _There's nothing she could tell me I haven't already read about..._

"You do, huh?" Rainbow shrugged, turning her head straight. "Alright..." Well that idea didn't last long. Still, it had been worth a shot. "Well anyway, I'm sure it'll come to ya, sorta like my own memories. Just gotta give it some time, and by then, maybe you'll know what it is you're supposed to learn, or maybe you'll have already learned it."

"Well maybe that's how you prefer to go about things, Rainbow, but I refuse to just sit around and wait for something apparently _oh-so_ important that I'm supposed to learn to just...come to me."

So she hated waiting... Rainbow shook her head before lying back against the seat. Maybe she was meant to teach her a little patience then?

The carriage slowed to an abrupt stop as Rainbow finished her thought. It seemed they had already reached the hospital, and soon her suspicion was proven correct. She watched Twilight glance out the window to her right, and sounding no less enthusiastic about this than Rainbow, said, "We're here."

"Oh joy..." Rainbow grumbled under her breath while rolling her eyes, which Twilight managed to take notice of.

"Hey," she softly said, nudging Rainbow's shoulder with a hoof, "I'll be with you, remember?"

"Oh joy," Rainbow repeated, this time in a joking tone...only to remember having been told to ease up on the jokes...and eh, remarks about Twilight.

And taking quick notice of the narrowed-eyed, unamused glare from Twilight, now seemed like a good enough time as any to start. "Sorry," she said, grinning sheepishly, a hoof meekly scratching at her right cheek. "Uh...thanks, Twi...I appreciate it."

"Uh-huh," Twilight replied, simply rolling her eyes. The more she was around Rainbow, the more she had come to expect Rainbow to say those sort of things, and the less it seemed to bug her. Though at times it came off as insulting, Twilight began to realize that, deep down, Rainbow didn't mean any of it—she was the one who pleaded for her company, after all.

Even so, she wished Rainbow would ease up a bit, and in ways, it seemed she was starting to. That was a start, she supposed.

"Well anyway, it'll be over before you even know it," Twilight added with a reassuring smile, hoping the things she said would ease Rainbow's, and even her own nerves a little. Neither of them were looking forward to this, but they could at least convince one another—and themselves—it wouldn't be so bad.

She returned to gazing out the window while allowing her magic to unlock the carriage door. "Alright...well, come on; we can't spend all day cooped up in here, can we?" she said with a sigh, pushing the door open and stretching both her forearms and legs out before stepping out herself before then turning to get Rainbow by enveloping her body and carefully maneuvering her out the door.

Once outside, and levitating the pegasus behind her, she trotted up to the front row door of the carriage where Celestia had been seated. Twilight tilted her head towards the Princess through the open window and readied to say her goodbyes and thank her for everything...when Celestia spoke up first.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again after all this time, my student," Celestia said, casting a benevolent smile at the two mares, and peering up at Rainbow for a quick second, added, "I'm glad to have met you as well, Rainbow."

"Yeah, uh...me too?" Rainbow replied with a nervous grin, not sure what Celestia was even getting at, or why she'd even be glad they _did_ meet in the first place. _Eh, probably just being polite or something._

"Thank you, Princess," Twilight said, happily smiling back at her. "It was really nice of you. Rainbow and I, we uh, really appreciated it." Whether or not Rainbow actually had remained unknown to the unicorn. Though she wasn't about to tell her Rainbow _hadn't_.

Celestia nodded. "Now before I go, I ask of one last thing from you."

_One last thing?_ There was still more that Celestia asked of her? Twilight broke her smile, now inquisitively looking back at her teacher. "Yes, Princess?"

"I would like for you to write to me about how things are going, and that also includes any news concerning are lost friend here," she explained, and though Twilight listened, one word stood out to her in particular.

_Friend...? Now what had she meant by that?_ Rainbow wasn't a friend. She didn't have a need for friends, nor did she want any. Though the Princess could have meant it in a number of ways, she nevertheless loathed the word, the idea behind it... Becoming attached to some pony out of personal affection, wasting away time day after day, and devoting time to them...distracting you from what really matters.

_Like now..._ she thought, letting out a sigh, and scolding herself for allowing that word to consume her it had caught her off guard...and it was rare she ever heard the word used, or had another pony refer to her as somepony's friend, but... There were more important matters that needed to be addressed. Celestia had mentioned that she...write to her, and Twilight was interested to know more. "Write to you... So you mean, like a progress report?"

"In a way, yes..." Celestia said, confirming her student's own suspicions. "Now I ask only that you write when you feel the need to," she added. "Do not worry over when or how often you write to me, so long as you keep me informed on how things are going."

"Oh uh, yes! You can count on me, Princess," she assured her with a look of confidence, before her mind once more drifted off in deep thought. _Ironic how I already wrote something similar the night before... Who would have guessed she'd insist on me writing more of those letters._

While Twilight remained silent in thought, Celestia chose that moment to discuss another matter, particularly with the pegasus who idly floated in the air above them, darting her gaze back and forth as if looking for _anything_ to pass the time. She thought back to their earlier meeting together, when she skimmed through Twilight's letter, and remembered a detail; one she was certain Rainbow would be interested to know would soon be resolved. Turning to catch Rainbow's passing gaze, she said with a smile, "Twilight wrote that she had difficulties providing a proper bed for you last night..."

With that said, Celestia had her attention...and all Rainbow could do was look down on the unicorn who was seemingly oblivious to all around her, and wonder about what the Princess had said; a curious expression written all over her face. _She wrote about...that?_ Rainbow's disbelief hadn't lasted long, remembering who it was that wrote the letter. Still, it made her wonder. Just how much had Twilight written in that letter of hers, anyway?

"I'll have a second bed sent over later this week," Celestia continued. "It should arrive before you're discharged from the hospital." As she finished, Rainbow felt a subtle smile tugging at her lips, and soon it couldn't be contained, expanding into a large grin.

"You mean it?" Rainbow asked, now beaming with excitement over the gesture. After last night, the idea of getting a warm, cozy bed to sleep in was great news to her. Though puzzling as well. As kind as the offer was, and although she appreciated it...it made her wonder why Celestia would go through the trouble of having a second bed delivered when it was unclear how long she'd be staying.

"Well eh, that's cool, I guess," she added with a stifling of her grin and a shake of her head. She wasn't about to humiliate herself showing gratitude over a bed. Talk about _uncool_.

Celestia nodded in her direction, smiling wholeheartedly at Rainbow's tough demeanor. Because behind it, she knew how Rainbow truly felt, and for the briefest moment, she had shown it. The lengths she went to hide it however, amused her. Calm and collected, brash, mischievous...and yet, this pegasus could prove herself essential to Twilight...to _Equestria_ if she only remained with Twilight; and she'd make it easy for Rainbow any way she possibly could...to avoid discomfort, or another potential argument with her student.

If only keeping Rainbow content was her sole concern, but soon another rose from her memory. It had been brought up briefly in her letter. Nothing more than a mere mention. But what it had mentioned gave even the Princess an uneasy feeling. Her student had mentioned nightmares...when the sun had begun its gradual descent from the sky. Though Twilight had summed it all up as nothing more than visions brought on by yesterday's events, Celestia feared otherwise.

Days had passed since their Summer Sun celebration, and in another year's passing, it would mark their thousandth. One thousand years since her banishment... _The days draw nearer...could it be but a mere coincidence?_ The recent happenings, this ordinary pegasus—a promising young symbol of loyalty—entering her student's life when she may need it most...no, this was more than a mere coincidence...

"Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow..." she spoke, seizing...Rainbow's attention, while Twilight on the other hoof, hardly took notice of Celestia's voice as it passed by her ears; her brow furrowed as her eyes focused on the cobblestone pavement below her hooves.

"I...must be on my way now," Celestia confided with the two of them, her mind focused on other matters. She smiled, adding, "I wish you the best of luck during these next few days."

"Oh uh, thanks," Rainbow replied first, though in her mind, wished Celestia could stay, if only a little longer. As dull and...uncomfortable being rendered motionless mid-air and forced to sit still was for her, she'd endure if only it meant prolonging her inevitable hospital stay a minute or two longer. Heck, she'd take Twilight's magic slathering over her body...causing it to go numb, and an occasional snicker to pass her lips any day over some doctor prodding her coat with needles, forcibly bandaging her wings and limbs up after making a considerable amount of incisions, most notably—and painfully—in her wings.

At least, that's how she remembered it.

But even if the worst was over, even if she'd most likely spend the next few days stuck in bed, even if Twilight would be with her every step of the way...those memories were enough to send shivers down her spine, and again she wished nothing more than to simply rest up at the tower instead. _But no,_ she grumbled in thought. Twilight's reasoning was simple; her recovery needed to be monitored and looked after by those certified, and Twilight claimed she was unfit to do so. Rainbow had disagreed of course, which only led to more arguing between them.

Celestia turned her head straight, raising a hoof and signaling the guards onward. "I'll be seeing you... Twilight, Rainbow," she whispered, audibly enough that Rainbow heard and gave a slight nod in response, though Twilight's mind was focused elsewhere...

Then, in a moment's passing, Celestia's carriage began pulling out of view, until the two were left the alone outside the hospital with nothing more than the distant sounds and bustling voices of ponies to accompany them.

Rainbow tolerantly waited for Twilight to budge, at least an inch...or say something, _anything_. She glanced from one direction to the next, examining the crossroads that interlaced with the hospital pathway; the mares and stallions that walked the early morning streets that _were_ up were few and far between, and hardly paid either of them any mind.

_This_ is what had gotten Twilight so agitated? _Unbelievable..._ Rainbow mused. Here she was earlier this morning, fretting over...what? A few ponies on their way to work? The thought made Rainbow smile to herself. From the looks of things, most of the populous wouldn't be fully awake for a while yet.

Well if there was one thing she could say she liked about Twilight, that caused her to smile, for better or worse, it was often her anxious, and rather..._fretful_ nature. Speaking of...

Her eyes once more looked down upon the mare holding her afloat. She stood unresponsive, seemingly unaware of the world around her, and mulling over..._whatever_ thoughts were gnawing at the back of her mind. Thinking back, she had been like that since Celestia last addressed her, about those letters—Rainbow rolled her eyes. _She froze up because of that?_ she thought, allowing a small groan to escape her lips and if it hadn't been for Twilight's magic constricting her movements, would have hit her forehead in sheer astonishment at the realization.

"Uh, Twi...?" Rainbow questioned, only for the unicorn to stay completely oblivious, lost in thought. Rainbow let out yet another groan at this. If only she could move a forearm, just an inch...enough to prod her shoulder and snap her out it.

Instead she closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh as she tried again, raising her voice as she spoke. "Twilight!" This time, it worked as the mare jolted from her thoughts and spun around, surprisingly not looking the least bit ticked off, but rather seemed more surprised than anything.

Twilight pointed her head up at the pegasus, cocking her head and raising her eyebrows as she did so. "You...used my name?"

"Uh, well...yes?" Rainbow replied, sharing a similar look of confusion. Needless to say, she hadn't expected Twilight to react as calmly as she had. "Look, I only use it to grab your attention when go silent on me like that so don't go gettin' used to it... I still prefer the nickname, y'know?"

"Figures..." Twilight's head drooped and ears flattened; the mare letting out a sigh as she decided to move onto other subjects. "So then, what was it you wanted again?"

"Your attention, egghead," Rainbow repeated, followed up with a sudden, teasing laughter. "You were kinda zoning out there."

"Oh...but wait, if that's true, then..." Her eyes widened in realization, swiftly looking all around her. "The Princess! Where—?" Twilight paused. It hadn't taken her long to spot the speck of a carriage as it was pulled down the road by a pair of unicorn guards.

"Oh no..." Twilight muttered under her breath, eyes becoming pinpricks and rubbing a hoof up along the side of her face. "No...no no no no, come back!" she shouted out, galloping several feet down the street and catching Rainbow in a state of surprise as she was unexpectedly whisked along. "Come back..." Her eyes lingered on the sight ahead of her for a few more seconds until her body came to a halt; her eyes fell to the stone pavement, her body following suit.

"Ugh...stupid stupid stupid," she muttered out, taping her forehead repeatedly against the pavement; her body now lazily sprawled out, flat against the ground. "How could I, her student, _ignore_ her like that?"

The magic around Rainbow's body began to ease up, and slowly, yet steadily, the pegasus was lowered to the ground. Touching down, Rainbow carefully stretched out her forearms and ever-so slightly arched her back before letting her shoulders droop. She let out an exhausted sigh, turning to face the mare who had been tasked with watching after her, now with her face planted firmly against the street. _Seriously?_ she thought, looking upon the silently grumbling mare with that of a deadpan expression. _And she was worried about making a scene?_

Rainbow took another look around her. Surprisingly, no other ponies could be seen walking the street, or ones linked to it; ponies seen earlier having already moved on. It was just the two of them, alone in the streets...one of which now uttering obscenities into the vacant street. _She so doesn't realize how lucky she is right now..._

Rainbow shook her head, leaning over the exasperated mare with a small grin plastered on her face. Seeing Twilight talk to herself...well, it was amusing to say the least, if not a bit expected of her.

And, she figured, a good enough opportunity to have a little bit of fun with her—and make her feel better! Getting her back on her hooves was top priority, of course. Still, she could help and have an...eensy amount of fun too, she concluded.

"Come now, Twilight...it's not like you meant to, or anything." Rainbow's voice entered her mind, trying as it could to mimic Twilight's own voice. It came out rather stuck-up and snobbish, but Rainbow deemed it a good enough impersonation.

Well, _she_ had, anyway. Not a second had passed before Twilight spoke up, bringing an abrupt end to Rainbow's short-lived amusement.

"I know it's you, Rainbow," she muttered out; her voice muffled as her face remained buried deep in the pavement. "Oh what does it matter if it's you or some inner voice telling me this... The point remains that I still _did_." Her eyes squinted tighter together in an attempt to shun away the thoughts forcing their way into her mind. "I can only imagine what she thinks of me now..."

Yeah, so can I..." Rainbow said, allowing a small snicker to escape her stifling hoof. "Look, I know she doesn't think anything bad of you—"

"Oh yes, and you know this because...?" Twilight hardly waited for Rainbow to give an answer before sighing and shakily sitting up to face her, her voice quavering as she continued. "I ignored her, Rainbow. Me, her student—"

"She _was_ only saying goodbye you know... I'm pretty sure she thought you were listening anyway," Rainbow chimed in, though her words were quick to fall on deaf ears as Twilight went on.

"What kind of student ignores her teacher like that?" Her voice continued, abandoning the shaky, quavering tone of her voice for a louder, more stern tone, stressing the words as they came. "Well, me apparently...now that I'm stuck with you."

"Me?" Rainbow leaned back, a hoof over her chest and a baffled expression written all over her face, taken aback by what Twilight had accused her of. "Hey, it's not my fault you can't pay attention!"

"Oh really?" Twilight inquired, lifting an eyebrow. "Yesterday, you were all I could think about... Then today, I go to say my goodbyes to Spike, only to warn him about falling out windows!" She quietly groaned, hitting her brow with a hoof, allowing it to slide down her face. "Oh but that's not all. Then the Princess stops by for no other reason than to make you into my new to-do list. Then she tells me I should do this, and this, and this and this..." she grumbled, waving her forearms about in front of her before eventually allowing them to drop to her sides and exhaling a shaky breath of air.

And for a moment, there was silence.

"Then I spend a moment, just one measly little moment thinking; thinking about what I could write, what would be worth writing about...and next thing I know, I hear your voice, and when I look around me, she's gone..." Twilight managed a single, weak ironic laugh. "I don't know what's worse, Rainbow... The fact that I can't quit thinking about you, or that..." Her cheeks unknowingly reddened as she averted her gaze and placed a hoof behind her neck, letting loose a sigh in defeat. "I don't mind it..."

Rainbow's expression only grew once she heard those words uttered by Twilight herself. There was no way Twilight had been telling the truth just then. She actually _didn't_ mind? No...that couldn't have been true. Not after ranting on about how she was affecting her judgement and clouding her thoughts... _She isn't that crazy,_ Rainbow reasoned in thought, her lips forming a smirk. _Sure, she's kind of crazy, but not..._

"Oh, why did I just say that?" she moaned in annoyance, squinting her eyes shut and falling back on the pavement. Several seconds passed with nothing more than the occasional chirping or carriage wheels rocking along the faraway roads to break the silence. She opened her eyes slightly, immediately being greeted by near-blinding rays of light from the mid-morning sun, and was quick to move a forearm over her eyes. Staring up at the sky above, half-lidded, Twilight quietly muttered, "How did today end up like this...?"

_Yeah, definitely crazy,_ Rainbow thought, forming a humored smile. Shaking her head, she leaned over the still unicorn, prodding her exposed stomach with a hoof. "Look, Twi—" Then she heard it. Though it had lasted for a mere second or two, Twilight had let out a giggle in response to her hoof.

At first Rainbow backed away, surprised to say the least. Looking down at the mare lying below her, Rainbow took notice of the remnants of a smile, still tugging at her lips. It was at that moment when it occurred to her. Twilight was ticklish...

That gave her an idea.

With a small, mischievous grin creeping its way across her face, Rainbow lifted both her hooves and before Twilight realized what Rainbow was about to do, was sent into a fit of giggles. "R-Ra-Rain..." Twilight stuttered out between giggles. "Bow-ah-hahaha! Her giggles quickly became boisterous fits of laughter as she scrambled to remove Rainbow's hooves from her underbelly, but to no avail.

"So...nerdy little egghead is ticklish, huh?" she teased with a smirk, continuing her hooves' assault. Despite the uncontrollable laughter and flailing limbs, Twilight managed an innocent shake of her head while her body squirmed and shook; a blush forming in her cheeks and tears at her eyes.

"Really? Sure looks like it," Rainbow said with a chuckle, gazing over the trembling unicorn pinned to the stone pathway with her hooves. "You know...you've tickled me 'til my body's gone numb with that magic of yours one too many times, Twi. Now, it's my turn." Twilight's eyes widened for a moment in fear. She frantically squirmed her body and flailed her limbs harder than before, desperate to free herself...but it no use. When her hooves even so much as made contact with Rainbow, they went on unnoticed.

Her horn sparked and sizzled, sparks of magic flying from the tip, but she couldn't focus long enough to cast a spell. It wasn't helped by the fact that Rainbow was still injured..._somewhat_ anyway, and wasn't about take the blame for injuring her further. On the outside, she continued to laugh; on the inside however, she groaned at the realization that she was now completely at Rainbow's mercy...

Twilight's eyes scrunched tight, longing to say something; anything to get Rainbow to stop. "N-no-oo...no!" she managed to say, the words fumbling out of her mouth. "St-ah-hahaha...st—"

"I'm sorry?" Rainbow tilted her head slightly. "Trying to say something, are we?"

"Y-ye-yes!" Twilight sputtered out, throwing her head back an instant later in another fit of laughter.

"Oh, well then...out with it," Rainbow prodded, never once easing up her assault.

Twilight mentally rolled her eyes. Rainbow was clearly teasing, knowing she could barely form a sentence but yet...she was right. She had to say _something_. So she said the first thing that came to mind. At least, she tried to. "Ra-Rai-Rainbow, s...st-ha-op!" Twilight cried out, her words mixing with bits of laughter, and an infrequent snort or two.

"Huh?" Rainbow looked at her puzzled, her brows furrowed in curiosity "St...ha-op...oh, stop!" she exclaimed as it dawned on her just what exactly Twilight had been trying to get across. "Is that all? Hm...okay." As she finished, Twilight's face lit up, though only for a moment. "But," Rainbow continued, "if I stop, then... you gotta stop beating yourself up so much, alright?"

Rainbow's hooves slowed to a stop, granting Twilight a moment a catch a breath, and rid her system of any lingering laughs. With one last deep breath, she opened her eyes slowly and almost immediately gazed up at Rainbow with an inquisitive expression, her mind racing with thoughts. For starters, what had Rainbow meant by 'beating yourself up'? She never once abused herself like Rainbow was suggesting.

Noticing Twilight's curiosity and remembering who it was she was talking with, Rainbow simply smiled warmly back at her as she went on to explain, "I meant that you shouldn't get so upset over every little thing that happens." Twilight wanted to protest, wishing to get a word in, though Rainbow wasn't about to let that happen.

"So you never got a chance to say goodbye to the Princess...so what? You'll see her again before you even know it!" Rainbow beamed, broadly grinning. "So you accidentally ignored her for like, two seconds... Twi, she didn't even notice." Twilight looked away, reluctantly allowing Rainbow's words to sink in. "I'm sorry about all this, but...sheesh Twi, look at yourself! You're lying in the streets, acting like it's the end of the world!"

Twilight slowly sat back on her haunches, holding a forearm behind her head and discovering she was having an increasingly difficult time looking the pegasus in the eyes. "I mean, what would Celestia think if she saw you like this?" _Celestia...?_ The mention of her name caused her eyes to widen at the thought; a gut-wrenching sensation swelling up inside her. She hadn't thought of that...

"Already, I get it..." Twilight admitted, breathing out a sigh. "That was foolish of me... But it's just, so much has happened—!"

"Which is why it's good to relax! Laugh a little," Rainbow said. "After all, didn't it make you feel better?"

_Did it?_ She thought over Rainbow's words carefully. She supposed it had felt nice...triggering a warm, cozy feeling beneath her fur. No, not just nice; it felt amazing to laugh like that. Not since her fillyhood had she felt so carefree, not since...

Twilight shook her head. "Y-yeah..." she stuttered out in agreement.

"Great! I knew it'd lighten you up," Rainbow said with a relieved grin, lighting tapping her companion in the shoulder with a hoof. The grin soon faded however as she now looked at her with concern in her eyes. "So uh...no more acting crazy, alright?"

"I wouldn't call my earlier behavior 'crazy,' Rainbow," she stated in a defensive tone, placing a hoof of her own over Rainbow's and removing it from her shoulder.

"Okay yes, whatever...you weren't acting crazy," Rainbow admitted, subsequently rolling her eyes. "Still...you know what I mean," Rainbow continued, only to have a musing silence fill the air moments later. Twilight gazed directly back at the pegasus with a quizzical look.

"I meant no more collapsing in the streets, smart one," Rainbow explained.

"Oh," Twilight's gaze returned to the street, biting her inner lip and rubbing her left forearm with her other hoof. "Right..."

Another moment of silence ensued, during which Twilight straightened her back before standing up on all fours. Taking a swift look around, she noted how bare the streets had become...not that she wasn't thankful they had been granted a bit of privacy. Better the streets were bare than have it look as though Rainbow and her were some escaped mental ponies from the nearby... _Hospital! Right..._

Again, she had forgotten, but they were here now, and the thought was fresh in her mind. She picked Rainbow off the ground and smiling up at the stunned pegasus, said, "Come along, Rainbow," as she turned and trotted down the street. "I still need to get you back to the hospital...and it's about time I did that."

Rainbow groaned, taking note of Twilight's forearm as they stopped before the familiar building once more, noticing it was outstretched in front of her and now pointing towards their destination. "Alright...but just..._please_ make this stay interesting for me, alright?" Rainbow asked, her tone almost pleading.

"Oh don't worry about that. I've brought several things along that I just know will keep your mind occupied," Twilight stated reassuringly, thinking back to the custom saddle she had strapped around her body. Though most of its contents were books, she hoped Rainbow might have been an avid reader before they met, and maybe, just perhaps, she'd enjoy a good book or two during her stay—

Well she supposed Rainbow could give reading a try, anyway.

"Yeah well, knowing you, you probably packed some weirdo egghead stuff, or something," Rainbow remarked with a laugh, and cuing an eye roll from Twilight. "But uh, whatever you brought along, I'm sure it's better than nothing," she continued, taking sudden interest in the sky above, watching a rather captivating cloud float on by. "So...thanks, I guess." Unbeknown to Rainbow, her cheeks had grown ever so brighter.

"Oh uhm...you're welcome, Rainbow," Twilight replied, finding herself surprised over Rainbow's sudden display of gratitude. Needless to say, it wasn't the first time, but if there was one thing she had come to learn about Rainbow, it was that she wasn't exactly one to show appreciation.

The walk seemed to drag on, with Twilight unconsciously taking her time. She had her reasons—not looking forward to her stay anymore than Rainbow was one of them—but there was one slightly more important to the unicorn. "Hey, uh, Rainbow," she began. "About earlier...regarding the Princess—"

She had expected Rainbow to respond rationally, to question what was on her mind. Instead, she received a heavy sigh. "This again?" Rainbow questioned, allowing her eyelids to drop into a deadpan manner. "Look, Twi, I thought we talked about this—"

"W-we did!" Twilight assured her, with a sudden raise of her voice. Then, with moment of silence, her tone began to simmer down, and she added, "It's just, well, while I was...eh, 'zoning out,' what exactly did she say?" She turned her head to look towards Rainbow, yearning for an answer.

That's what was bugging her? Rainbow smirked at the realization. She supposed Twilight would have asked sooner or later. But yet, she already explained what she had said...unless Twilight hadn't heard her. Thinking back, it became increasingly apparent that she hadn't.

"Uh, well..." She thought back to the few words she had exchanged with the Princess. "She pretty much just said her goodbyes..." she explained, and believed that was it, as her voice began to trail off...only to remember something else. "Oh, and that I'll be moving in with you! Yeah, she's getting me my own furniture and everything!"

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide and swallowing down a gulp, unsure of what she had heard. "S-sh-she w-what?" Princess Celestia was...moving Rainbow in with her? No, no way in Equestria that was true. Well okay, sure Celestia had allowed Rainbow to stay with her, but nopony said anything about Rainbow moving in with her! "Why would she—?" she began to question as her hooves once again began carrying her weight down the pathway, never once taking her eyes off the pegasus. "I mean what reason would she have—?"

"Twilight!" Rainbow's voice entered her mind, alerting her just in time as she took notice of the view ahead of her. Now staring wide-eyed though the double glass doorways, she realized she had unknowingly been one hoofstep away from walking smack-dab into the building's entrance, and immediately took a few hoofsteps back.

_Sheesh...this girl..._ Rainbow thought with an amused smile, remaining watchful of the mare below her. "Alright look, I won't be 'moving in', okay?" Rainbow assured her, who upon hearing those words, snapped her head back towards the pegasus; the look on her face was torn somewhere between relief and bewilderment.

Twilight parted her lips ready to speak, ready to question what Rainbow had meant...when Rainbow beat her to it. "I'm pretty sure she's just trying to make my stay more comfortable. Said she'd have a bed delivered sometime before I left the hospital, that's all."

_That's all...?_ So that was all then. Princess Celestia was simply working to make Rainbow's stay more enjoyable. At least it made sense...though it failed to ease her mind. Now she'd have to find a place for the bed supposedly being delivered...one of the spare rooms would suffice she supposed, seeing as how there was little-to-no space left in her own room. But that only meant wasting more of her time preparing a room for Rainbow to reside in, filling it with _whatever_ Rainbow could possibly need—

Her fretful thoughts however, soon slowed to an abrupt stop, and what she did next, she couldn't believe.

As Rainbow suggested, she let out a laugh. To any other pony within hearing range, it may have sounded contrived and awkward, and barely audible due to the stifling hoof held over lips. But to her, it was a laugh. After all, here she was, pointlessly worrying over something that perhaps wasn't such a big deal after all. No, she'd worry about getting Rainbow situated when the time came, but for now, she had other matters to attend to.

Like getting Rainbow inside this Celestia-forsaken hospital before sundown. Who would have thought it'd be so difficult?

_Well, it shouldn't be,_ Twilight thought, raising a hoof to the door and as she was about to push, someone inside opened it for her. Her tilted up, her gaze meeting a stallion's, dressed in the usual white hospital attire, and distinctly familiar.

"Twilight Sparkle?" At the mentioning of her name, Rainbow let out the faintest snicker, though it had gone unnoticed...for the most part. Shifting his gaze away from Twilight and towards the floating pegasus, he asked, "And...Rainbow?"

Both mares nodded, now sharing a similar look of curiosity.

The stallion stepped back with a welcoming smile and ushered the two in. "Welcome back."

* * *

Not exactly the most eventful chapter, but eh, I do hope it was good enough. The fourth chapter (or final part of chapter two) should be up soon. I wanted to upload it alongside these ones, but there's still a bit of edits and changes I need to make it and yeah... Besides I needed to upload _something_ before the end of the month.

Edit: Also, a couple questions. On the wikia it states Twilight's residence while in Canterlot was the Ivory Tower, and yet...I've been reading plenty of other fics as I work on this, TwiDash ones mostly, and in a lot of them, it states that Twilight used to live at the Palace. Though I'm certain her residence at the start of the show was at the tower, am I wrong? If so, well...it's kind of late to fix that I suppose, but I'd like to be certain. Or is it simply like Rainbow's coat color? Cyan, cerulean...in the end, both are acceptable, and it doesn't matter so long as she's residing _somewhere_ in Canterlot?


End file.
